


Abluvion

by patriciaselina



Series: Once Upon A Time In Iwatobi [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Frozen (2013) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Magic, Ambiguous Relationships, Bromance, Brother Feels, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Coronation, Engagement, Everybody loves Makoto, Haru just wants to swim, How Do I Tag This, I'll fix it later, Inspired by Frozen (2013), Kings & Queens, Magical Accidents, Nagisa is a Little Shit, Platonic Life Partners, Platonic Romance, Princes & Princesses, Quests, Rei's head hurts, Rin has a crush, Road Trips, Time Skips, Water, distracted by the sexy, eventual MaRinKa??, miracle of the universe Makoto, ships are frustrating i s2g
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-15
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 12:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1470334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka is the firstborn Prince of Tottori, graceful, intelligent, an excellent swimmer, and bearer of a power the likes of which has to be seen to be comprehended. But ever since an incident regarding his younger brother Rei, said power has been kept hidden to everyone. That is, however, until the party for Haruka's coronation. The night that Prince Nagisa of Iwami asks for Rei's hand in marriage...</p><p>...and then. Then it is up to Rei to bring his brother back to their kingdom and return things to the way they were before. Sounds easy, yes? But even with the help of down-on-his-luck merchant Rin, and Makoto, a friend from the brothers' old memories, it doesn't seem like it'll be so easy...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. do you want to go and swim now?

**Author's Note:**

> The brothers are still named Haruka and Rei, the boys are called Princes (in Haru's case, King), the kingdoms are named after Japanese prefectures, the setting is (for the most part) based off of the sandy kingdom in the ED, and Rei still uses Japanese honorifics, but this is not set in a purely Japanese-styled monarchy, nor in a Western/European-styled one. I'm mainly using these terms, and certain others, like fanfic writers normally do regarding AUs based off of the Splash Free! ED video, which is to say, for stylistic purposes.
> 
> Try as I might I simply don't know enough about either Japanese or Western monarchies to confidently say that this has any historical basis to it - and if you are in any way affected by this I would like to give you my sincerest apologies, and please don't be afraid to let me know any tips on how I could make this monarchy more consistent with reality!
> 
> Also: we're gonna be in Haru's POV for the first two chapters, then Rei's POV for the next two. Hope that doesn't confuse you much, and anyway, here are the words, I do hope you like them!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The childhood prologue, in Haru's POV.

I don’t think I ever considered myself to be a light sleeper, but with a little brother like Rei around, I guess I have to be one.

“Haru- _aniue_ , Haru- _aniue_ ,” There he goes, pulling at the sheets again. It’s the fifth time _this_ _week_ , and even if we _really_ should be asleep by now I don’t think I can get mad at him for waking me. “Haru- _aniueeee_.”

“What is it, Rei?” I murmur, cracking open an eye to look at him. Rei’s pleading face is the same one he uses every time; his large purple eyes bright and shining and that shy smile of his stretched out as far as it could go. It’s the same one I don’t think I could ever say ‘ _no_ ’ to.

“Let’s go play, Haru- _aniue_.” Rei says, pushing at his glasses with the hand of his that isn’t clawing at my bedsheets. He’s still so small, if he doesn’t hang on he just might get swallowed up in the sheets, so I take pity on him and put an arm around his waist to set him on the empty side of my bed. “Right now.”

“Right _now_? But Rei, aren’t we supposed to be sleeping?”

“But sleeping is _boring_ , Haru- _aniue_. It’s something we already do every night, every afternoon, and shall continue to be doing every day after for the rest of our lives. I don’t see how missing a few hours would be such a big deal.”

...the logic behind that is a bit twisted, but for a twelve-year-old, my little brother has a whole lot of stuff to say.

“Then you can play by yourself, if you want to play so much.”

“But you _promised_ to play with me, Haru- _aniue_.” Rei says, pulling that pout on me again, and it’s true – when he had been being particularly difficult with one of his tutors (so Rei’s no good with a brush and easel, this isn’t news to me), I had muttered under my breath that if he just followed instruction we’d go play the games he likes after.

The stick-figure-thing he came up with had been so horrible that our royal Father had to literally bury his head in paperwork to stop from laughing. I loved it anyway. It’s tucked somewhere underneath one of my sketchbooks and I still have no idea what it’s supposed to be.

“What should we do, then? You know I don’t know many games.” I say, watching how that makes the grin fall off his little face. This is partly not a lie – like I said, this is the fifth time this week _alone_. I am quickly running out of ideas.

“Well...maybe, Haru- _aniue_?” Rei starts, stops, and then he...seems to have realized something, because suddenly his entire face lights up and it makes my heart feel warm all of a sudden. “That’s right! Haru- _aniue_ , we can do _that_!!”

“ _That_?”

“You know, _that_.” Rei parrots, bouncing on my bed with all his excitement. “You can make a swimming pool. Teach me how to swim.”

Rei says that when I hear the words ‘ _water_ ’, ‘ _pool_ ’, or ‘ _swimming_ ’, my eyes have this weird glow to them. I’ve never seen that happen, but judging from the grin on his face right now I guess that glow’s happening. I can’t help it; in this usually-hot, normally busy, and definitely locked up kingdom, swimming is the closest I’ll ever get to freedom.

The powers help, too.

“Let’s go, then,” I say, and suddenly all my worries about lateness and sleep and priorities just go and make way for the silly grin on my little brother’s face.

Can I just tell our royal parents that Rei is their best idea ever? Tied at the top spot with the nice indoor pool they built for my ninth birthday.

So, yes, we _do_ have a pool. It’s just that most of the time, what with the whole thing about water shortages and being in a sandy desert-ish kingdom and all, it just doesn’t seem right for us to put all that water in the pool when the people around us are thirsting. I’m just a child, and I do love the pool like a brother, but I get what our father’s going with this.

And, besides. As long as I’m here, not having pool water will never be an issue, I think, as I fill the pool to the brim with a snap of my fingers. Rei’s claps and cheers, and I can’t help but muffle a smile behind my other hand – that something this effortless for me strikes up such awe in him never fails to cheer me up.

“So what do you think, Rei?” I ask, turning to him and trying not to look smug. It’s _very_ hard not to look smug, not when he’s looking at me all amazed like that.

“Spectacular as always, Haru- _aniue_!” Rei gushes as he looks over our pool and the shining magical water in it, his little hands cradling his face. _Cute_. “Magnificent! Amazing! Haru- _aniue_ , this is all just so _beautiful_!”

 _Beautiful_. It’s one of Rei’s favourite words – Mother’s dress is beautiful, the library is beautiful, the little kittens are beautiful, Father’s crown is beautiful, Haru- _aniue_ ’s magic is beautiful – and despite all his repetition I can _never_ get used to hearing him say that.

People keep telling me that I’m a thing of beauty; that I’m the perfect heir because I move with a certain grace. But I never really believe those words, not if Rei _isn’t_ the one saying them.

Speaking of, Rei’s talking right now. “Haru- _aniue_ , where did your clothes –?”

“Huh? Oh.” _Right_. Somehow, after I fill up a pool the clothes I’m wearing just sort of – disappear, and get replaced by this really weird pair of clingy knee-length breeches-like-things. Blue, shiny breeches-like-things. They’re nice to move around in, perfect to swim in, and kind of remind me of ice.

“I think these are the clothes best suited to swimming,” I say, and snap my fingers once more. “Here you go, Rei.”

Rei gets the same treatment – his little butterfly-print sleepwear making way for another pair of shimmering breeches like the one I’m wearing now, only a bit longer. He ‘ _ooh_ ’s and ‘ _aah_ ’s at the sight.

“Wow! Haru- _aniue_ can make clothes, too – is this made out of ice?” Rei fusses with his waistband, frowning a bit. “But if it is, isn’t it supposed to feel cold? It doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s _magic_ , Rei, it _doesn’t_ make sense.” I say, blowing my bangs out of my face. I really need a haircut. “Come along, now.”

“Err...but Haru- _aniue_?”

“Yes?”

“I– I don’t think I want to try swimming on my own,” he gulps, and from this distance I can see his sweat pooling on his brow. “Can you, err...”

I sigh. Only God knows why, after all this time, he still feels embarrassed about this around me. It’s not like I don’t know he can’t swim. It’s why I offered to teach him in the first place. I snap my fingers again, and the familiar icy-shimmery kickboard appears in his hands.

“I–I. Well.” Rei fidgets with his kickboard, moving his weight back and forth. “Haru- _aniue_ , can I still hold your hand?”

“You know you don’t have to ask,” I say, shaking my head and reaching for Rei’s shaking hand. I am many things, but a bad big brother is not one of them. “In fact...”

I’ve never tried doing this, but...I’ve filled swimming pools thrice this size before, and I’ve also inadvertently brought a dozen of Rei’s snowmen to life before. And besides, Father did tell me that some of the best ideas come from the most unexpected of places. Maybe this is one of them.

The face isn’t one I’ve ever seen before, but I’ve seen it hundred times, in dreams. Warm eyes, messy hair, and the softest of smiles. He looks like a patient person. Probably the best one to teach Rei how to swim.

Probably the best one to have swimming with _me_ – no wait _what_.

“Haru- _aniue_ , what are you doing?”

My eyes are still closed. I don’t think I want to see him partially formed, whoever he is. I imagine him wearing long legskins like the ones Rei is wearing now. Steady legs, broad shoulders, and just that barest hint of, of _muscle_ –

No, wait, stop, this guy’s supposed to be around our age, so _easy_ on the muscle.

“I’m making you a tutor,” I say, shuddering as the last traces of magic leave me. I imagine that his eyes are green, green like the deepest depths of the sea. “So you’ll have twice the help.”

“Oh, that’s amazing, Haru- _aniue_!” Rei gushes. “Ah, look, he’s opening his eyes...”

My eyes snap open. It’s done already? And sure enough, there he is, standing right in front of us, with a soft smile dancing through his warm green eyes. He looks just like any other person, any other human our age, if not only for the bluish, subtly iridescent tint to his skin.

“My name is Makoto,” he says, and though I’ve no idea how he’d thought that name up, it sounds oddly right. _Makoto_ , I think, feeling the syllables roll through my tongue. Perfect. “This is Rei-kun, I take it?”

“I – I! Um, yes, I’m Rei. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Makoto-san, er, _senpai_ ,”I roll my eyes as my little brother nearly falls over himself in bowing to his new tutor. He’s way too polite for his own good, which while adorable is a bit silly and uncalled for; especially since I think he doesn’t need to bow to a somehow-sentient being I made from scratch with my powers. I don’t think that’s a situation that all of Father’s tutors and all of Mother’s intuition have trained him for. “I place myself in your care.”

“There’s no need to be so _formal_ , Rei-kun, I’m one of your brother’s friends after all,” Makoto says, breezily, as if what he was saying was true, as if he was my friend and not my creation, as if I had any other friends that he could say he was ‘ _one of_ ’. He reaches over to ruffle Rei’s hair the way I always want to do, then he turns to me and then – _then_ my chest tightens around itself and I have to remind myself that breathing is a _thing_ I should still be doing. “I am your friend, aren’t I, Haru?”

If Father were here he’d probably make a fuss and tell Makoto that members of the royal family are supposed to be referred with their birth names and royal titles. If Mother were here she’d notice my burning cheeks and coo over how _adorable_ it is for me to have a crush.

It’s _not_ a crush, I think, while the pool water below makes small rippling waves, as if it were making fun of me...!

“Haru- _aniue_ , are you all right?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” I’m so _fine_ that my heart isn’t doing headstands while Makoto looks at me with that silly soft smile plastered on his face. I am so _fine_ , in fact, that I am _not_ blushing over a boy I created out of water powers. This sounds like one of the Greek love stories my tutor used to have me read about, and it _unnerves_ me.

“I think we should begin the lessons now, before your parents wake up,” Makoto says, the faintest of amused twinkles sparkling in his eyes as he goes to lead Rei into the pool, I am not blushing, not at all, _no_ , “Haru?”

“Un,” I murmur, before splashing into the pool, leaving behind Rei’s surprised gasp and Makoto’s amused chuckling. The water’s encircling me now, shielding me in its embrace, as if it knew of my flaming cheeks and the great need I have to hide them. And maybe it does. The water and I understand each other, after all.

I emerge to see Makoto guiding Rei along the pool edges, my little brother’s eyebrows furrowed and his lips set in a tight line. Makoto’s saying something about how backstroke is the best for people scared of the water, and at that Rei pouts and snaps, “I am _not_ afraid of the water! Err, I’m not, right, Haru- _aniue_?”

“You’re not,” I say, swimming closer to them now that I’ve been caught in the conversation. And now that I’ve deemed the flush well and truly gone from my face. _Thank_ _you_ , water. “And you won’t be after we’re finished teaching you. Come along, Rei.”

“I’ll teach you backstroke and breaststroke,” Makoto says, his hands still gentle and steady on Rei’s as Rei lets go of the pool edge, “and Haru will teach you the front crawl. Isn’t that right, Haru?”

“Do what you like,” I say, internally praising the beauty of this arrangement because...well, long story short, the only stroke I _do_ know enough to teach is the front crawl. There is also no reason at all for me, the prince of a desert kingdom, to get proper swimming lessons. Not when the nearest non-magical body of water is a mountain range away...

And besides, from what little I’ve seen of other people swimming...I could say that I like front crawl the best. It’s freer. I’d like to teach Rei that freedom.

It takes us an hour or so, but eventually Rei manages to stay afloat with a combination of Makoto’s dolphin kick and my kickboard. Makoto’s by Rei’s side, spouting off a stream of platitudes that I’ve always wanted to tell Rei but almost never do: that he’s doing great, that he’s executing the kick correctly, that I look very proud of him. Well, he’s got all that right, except that last one.

I don’t just _look_ proud of him, I _am_ proud of him. And Rei didn’t have to learn anything about swimming to do that.

See, there’s a reason why I chose to be the quiet kind of elder brother. I am _so_ embarrassing.

I sneeze, exhaustion slowly working its way through my system, and am about to tell Rei that we should really go to sleep now, when I hear – when I hear a bloodcurdling scream.

 _Rei’s_ bloodcurdling scream.

Oh _no oh no oh **no no no**_.

I look around and sure enough, there it is – Rei’s paddling against the wavy water like his life depends on it, which it _does_ , and though he’s got some hold on my technique they’re of no use against the raging pool water. The waves have separated him from Makoto, who’s now standing stick-still like he’s been struck. And maybe he is. The fatigue’s wreaking havoc upon my magic, after all, and since he’s also made out of it…

Long story short now my little brother’s drowning and his magical tutor’s magically stunned and I am the one who put him here, also the only one who can save him now – but how can I? Right now the waves are crashing against the water’s surface and I can’t even rein it all in enough to calm them down again, to see where Rei is clearly again. So I scream, once, and blindly project my powers out from myself, to somewhere, anywhere really, the only thought on my mind _please, let him live, I don’t care what happens to me, just let Rei live–!_

I don’t know how things transition from that to what comes next, for everything kind of just blurs in one incoherent rush of darkness and water and _uncontrollable power_ , but as for what comes next…this is the part that our parents remember, that Rei probably no longer does – that our parents rush in upon hearing my screams, see us both at the edge of the pool, Rei slumped lifeless across my lap, my arms holding him close, my shoulders shaking.

Aside from the time that I emerged from my mother’s womb, it is the only time that my parents have ever heard me cry.

“Haruka,” Father says, _disappointment_ clear in his tone. As if I wasn’t feeling bad about myself _enough_. “This is getting out of hand.”

Mother crouches down, ignoring how her beautiful sleep clothes might react to the damp floors, and holds us both close. “Haru’s shaking, and Rei’s ice cold, my husband. We have to do something _fast_.”

“We have no choice but to take them _there_ , then.” Father says, crouching down as well, holding his arms out to me, all the prior disappointment gone from his gaze. Well. Maybe just _most_ of it. I _am_ his heir, after all. “I’ll ride with Rei, so hand him over to me, Haruka. Reina, Haruka will be riding with you; would that be all right?”

“Of course I don’t mind. Here we go, Haru.” Mother says, taking me into her arms after Father walks off with Rei, unmindful of how tightly I’m holding on to her neck and how cold my touch is against her warm skin. “Hush now, darling, I’m sure that our Rei will be just fine.”

I know she can’t be a hundred percent sure – I can see tears falling slowly down her cheeks, for one – but she presses kisses to the crown of my head and acts as if she were anyway. It’s what mothers do.

“I didn’t mean it,” I blubber ungracefully into her neck, tears and frost and who-knows-what-else fighting for dominance on my sobbing face. “It was an accident. I didn’t want him to get hurt.”

“We know that, dearest. You would sooner hurt yourself than hurt Rei; do not think that I and your father don’t know how much you care for him.” Mother says, her soft voice soothing, as her footfalls echo through the palace floors, as she rubs soothing circles on my back. “We’re just going to take you somewhere where there are people who know how to make Rei feel better. It will be alright.”

As our horses gallop through the night I don’t think my tears ever stop falling. Father’s made it so Rei looks like he’s holding on to him, and from what I do see of Rei’s face – he’s grimacing, and his eyes are shut, as if he was struck in the middle of a painful dream – it only makes me want to cry again. I’d be surprised if I even had any tears left after this.

I’d be surprised if I even had the energy to cry, after this.

“We’re almost there,” Father says, jerking his chin towards…the sea? Is that the sea? For one thoughtless moment I believe that the only way to save Rei is for me to jump in the open waters and never return. And under the monstrosity of my grief I don’t even have it in myself to fight it, if that were my fate.

Father’s horse stops at the very shoreline – how far is this from our palace, how quickly did our parents ride to arrive here, and if this is actually near the palace then how come nobody else knows of this? – and Mother’s horse follows suit. They dismount, and Father calls out, to no one in particular: “I have need of your help. It’s my son.”

Dorsal fins suddenly just…pop out of the calm waters, and I screw my eyes shut and brace myself for what might come. Mother’s grip tightens ‘round me, and she murmurs nonsense words into my hair, completely unruffled as something splashes out of the water. I can’t even muster up the knowledge to see what it is.

Suddenly I hear damp footfalls, and a man’s voice. “Born with the power, or cursed?”

“Born, and growing stronger,” Father replies, and there is something in the _urgency_ of his voice that cuts through my fear and makes my eyes fly open. Guess that’s why he’s King.

That aside, the man I heard earlier seems to be the one whose hand is pressed to Rei’s forehead right now – taller than Father, bright red hair, with a scaly wrap covering his waist and nothing else, with inhumanly sharp, jagged teeth. He’s frowning, and as Mother walks closer to the two men I can’t help but glare. Who is he, how dare he touch my brother so easily, why are we even here, why did our parents take us somewhere with sharks in it?

“We are lucky that it was only the head,” the man says, pushing Rei’s bangs to the side, trying to rub away the furrow in between his brows, “For if it were the heart that had been struck, it would have been fatal. But as for the head – ah, the head can be persuaded, just fine.”

“Do whatever it is you can to help,” Father says, then pauses, catches his breath before adding: “ _Please_.”

“I suggest that you remove all magic – even _memories_ of magic – from your young man’s head. Like so,” the man makes this gesture as if he were pulling something out of Rei’s head, and we see as he rifles through the bulk of the memories both Rei and I share – watch as the water rushes from the pipes rather than my fingertips, as my creation of Makoto is replaced by both of us meeting a merchant’s young son.

“But don’t worry, I’ve kept the fun.” the man says, turning away from Rei and his changed memories to offer me a wink he probably thinks would comfort me. If it were any other boy then I guess it would’ve worked. But this is me, and I just almost killed the person who I consider most important to me in the entire world. I don’t think that there is anything worth cheering up for, right now.

“So then,” Mother starts, stops, and then asks the question I want to ask but can’t find the words to do so. Right this moment I don’t think I can find the words to say _anything_ , actually. “Rei can’t know that Haru has powers?”

“…your firstborn’s name is ‘Haruka’, I recall?” the man asks. Mother nods at that, and I am for a moment surprised that our parents have known this man for a while now, but then again if they were the only one they could turn to in times of this… “Well then. I won’t lie to you. Your Haruka’s power will only grow, and your Rei was correct in saying that there is a rare kind of beauty in it. But – Haruka,” the man says, turning to me and looking at me with warm brown eyes that make me feel trapped, somehow. “you must learn to control your powers. For people always fear what they could not understand. And that fear, your highness, shall be your worst enemy.”

Upon hearing his voice a darkness falls above us and I can feel the tears welling up in me again, but then Father’s hand lies heavily on my shoulder and I can’t be weak, I _shouldn’t_ be weak right now. “I am absolutely sure that he can learn to control it. But until then…we’ll close the gates. Reduce the staff. We shall take great care in ensuring that no one else knows of his powers, even Rei.”

This, apparently, entails having me and Rei locked in the castle for an indefinite period of time, sleeping and living in separate bedrooms. I sulk and sulk but it’s no use resisting because even if I did have a reason to resist I won’t. I don’t want to hurt Rei ever again, and if staying away from him is the only way to keep him safe then so be it.

On the morning after all this, the last thing I see is Rei’s eyes – still lovely, still purple, still with a hold on me strong enough to make me want to let go of this doorknob and run to him – and how they widen with confusion, with _sadness_ , as I close the door to my new bedroom behind me. And turn the lock.

And that lock stays in place, for the next twelve years.

Until I turn twenty-one. Until I get the crown. And then –

– then, of course, our story only truly starts from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rei refers to Haru using the honorific "-aniue" (兄上), which is an archaic and formal way to refer to one's highly esteemed elder brother. It is also what the Emperor calls Seien in SaiMono. Yeah, I know, but it kinda sounds right, considering Rei's speech, don't you think?
> 
> The "Greek love story" that reminds Haru of his weird feels for Makoto is that of [Pygmalion the sculptor and his statue Galatea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_\(mythology\)). Which is kind of a spoiler for those two, the more you think about it.
> 
> No, the man who heals Rei (the red-headed shark shapeshifter?) is not Rin's father! He was originally supposed to be that man, but...well, I guess I'll revise the tags. That man is a relative of Rin's father, though, probably a father or uncle at most.
> 
> I'm recycling the name of Rei's mother from [Ichiban](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1293586), which is also the name of Rei's mother in the [Through the Frame, I See You](http://archiveofourown.org/series/76456) series, Reina, because - well, like I said in the liner notes for Ichiban, Reina sounds like reyna which is "queen" in Tagalog. So Queen Reina = Queen Queen? Idk, I am a lame person who laughs for hours at puns.


	2. be the great king you always have to be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coronation day, from Haruka's POV.

With a track record like this, you have to understand why I believe that my birthday brings nothing but bad luck.

First, when Rei drowned in my magic and almost died, it was a week before my tenth birthday. Nothing screams “ _happy birthday_!” like our royal Father giving me ice-blue gloves that don’t do much so far as covering is concerned, as he keeps saying “ _Conceal,_ Haruka, don’t _feel_ ”, as if that’ll help, while the walls are not so thick enough as to muffle the sound of my little brother’s screams and wails for ‘ _Haru-aniue_ ’ to ‘ _please come back_ ’. Yes. That’s a very nice childhood memory.

During my fifteenth birthday, our royal Mother tried to envelop me in one of her signature loving embraces, which I promptly responded to by freezing our arms solidly in that position, so she couldn’t let go of me, at least not for the next few hours. Father was confused and a little bit worried, fussing over Mother and going inside to feed us while waiting for my magic to thaw. Mother took it all in stride, even though I could feel she was a bit thrown off by the cold, and sat with me, making jokes and telling stories about Rei and how he read all the books in the library and was gaining a talent in athletics. She also told me, repeatedly, that she was proud of me. Which unnerves me completely – I’m holing up in my room until the day after forever, what is there to be proud of in regards to that?

Needless to say I reject any and all forms of physical contact soon after that. I flinch away from my Mother when she holds out her arms for me to embrace; I turn away from my Father when he wants to ruffle my hair for dealing with royal paperwork. Can’t have another accident on my hands, and all that.

During my sixteenth birthday I see Rei practice his pole vaulting for the first time. It takes him a few failed tries, what with this being his first time and all, but he manages to clear his bar and I get so excited that I actually freeze everything inside my bedroom. Literally. Everything. We had to get everything replaced. I was then compelled to stop looking outside windows after that, which was troublesome, to say the least.

On my eighteenth birthday, we received notice that our parents died at sea.

When they left a week ago, I knew they told me I wasn’t to set foot outside my bedroom, but I just won’t allow them to leave without seeing me see them off. I didn’t know if this is my magic that was telling me things or just plain old intuition, but what I did know was that they shouldn’t be going on this trip. So I told them so. “Do you really _have_ to go?” I asked, intending my voice to come out monotonous but hating the way emotion managed to crack through anyway.

“Of course we do, you know your mother and I wouldn’t go if it were otherwise.” Father had said, making that tentative half-step that meant he wanted to ruffle my hair, and then stepping back when he sees me beginning to flinch. “It will be _fine_ , Haruka.”

“We’ll be back in two weeks,” Mother had said, her smile still on her face even if I wouldn’t let her hug me. She didn’t know how wrong she had been. How wrong they had both been.

Now they’re gone and I’m curled into myself with my back to the door, watching as I’ve frozen oxygen out of the very air itself. My Father’s officials had been knocking on this very door non-stop, screaming about things like logistics and succession and dignitaries, screaming at me to come out at once and fulfill my rightful duties as Crown Prince, no, as the rightful _King_ of Tottori. Even though the only ‘rightful duty’ I’d be able to accomplish by setting foot outside this room would be to freeze their mouths silent. And probably cry myself a literal river.

In the middle of all that shouting and knocking, I hear Rei’s voice. It’s deeper and older than what I’ve vaguely remembered – understandable, since he’s turning seventeen and it has after all been three years since he stopped calling for me – and, despite everything, he’s speaking on my behalf. Saying that if he’s beside himself with grief, I must be ten times worse. That they should leave the details to him, and that they should stop bothering me with their never-ending complaints.

He never says anything to me. At least, not before when he comes home from the funeral.

“Haru- _aniue_ , please.” he says, his voice cracking around the edges, “I _know_ you’re in there.”

 _Of course_ I’m in here. In fact I’ve been here for the past nine years and have no idea when that’ll stop being true.

If that’ll _ever_ stop being true.

“They keep… _praising_ me, telling me that it’s really courageous for me to deal with this on my own, but…well, that’s what families do for each other, right?” he continues on, and I hear this sound that makes me think he’s sat down with his back pressed against my bedroom door, like he used to do when he was little. Like I’m doing right now. Maybe he isn’t, but for now, imagining that this door is the only thing separating us is good for my psyche. For now. “They’re just… _here_ for each other. Like Mother and Father had always been for us. Like how I’m here for you, if you’d only _let me in_.”

And the worst part about this is that – that I don’t dislike being under Rei’s care. In fact I’ve long wanted to just be near to him, very much so. In fact that’s the reason why our Father had to put very nice locks on my doors, because I might just break through them all and watch Rei sleep, freezing him somehow, or something.

In fact Rei’s wrong and I’m not shutting him out, no. I’m just locking myself in, because nothing good ever comes from associating with me, and sometimes when he does his jumps there’s this angle where I can see the single dark lock of his hair and how the sun bounces coldly, unnaturally, off it, and it reminds me of the night I failed. Of the night _I_ killed him.

“Please, Haru- _aniue_ , just let me in,” Rei almost pleads, but – I know him. He _never_ pleads. Not anymore, when none of his pleading has ever seemed to change my mind. “We can go swimming, if you want.”

See, this is the thing you really have to understand about me, and I don’t care if you misunderstood anything else but this: I love my little brother.

I love him so much, in fact, that I’d rather he thinks that I didn’t care about him, instead of having him know how much I care. Because then it’d be his last thought, shortly before I inevitably froze him to death.

And then, of course, of course, I can’t talk about all my birthday bad luck without talking about today. My twenty-first. After I’ve been well and truly crowned as King Haruka of Tottori, with Father’s large, heavy silver crown.

It’s the first time they’ve opened the gates since I was nine, and I can’t help but feel uneasy about all this.

They announce my entrance, as they should. As they must. Of course.

“King Haruka of Tottori,” the herald says, and I have to fight off the displeasure at the form of address. It’s not their fault that they have to call me ‘ _Haruka_ ’ and not ‘ _Haru_ ’; that’s Father’s actually, may his soul rest in peace, for giving his son a girly name and not giving any reasons.

(Come to think of it, Rei has a girly name too. I sense some kind of pattern at work.)

But besides – it’s fine that they call me ‘ _Haruka_ ’. Now that Mother’s gone the only one left who calls me ‘ _Haru_ ’ is Rei, and I don’t think I want to change that, even if we haven’t seen in years.

God, we haven’t seen in _years_. I wonder how he looks like? I’ve seen him out my window when he practices his pole vaulting, but that’s it. I’m going to see him today, up close, and protocol or not I am going to drink him in.

I am aware that this makes me sound very weird, but bear with me. I haven’t seen my baby brother in _years_.

The herald calls for “Prince Rei of Tottori,” and in comes this very handsome man, walking with a grace to his steps that I’d never have expected from all his childish clumsiness. Standing side-by-side he’s grown taller than me, and all the track training he does makes him fill out his dress uniform nicely; but his new glasses are rimmed with the shade of red he preferred when he was little, and his hair is still a force untamable by hair combs and pomade.

He’s also trying very hard to not look at me, like he feels he doesn’t belong here, by my side. That’s understandable. I locked myself in a room for seven years after all. His flinching still hurts, though. Was this what our parents used to feel, when I flinched away?

I muster up strength. “Hey,” I whisper, lamely.

“I, um, well,” Rei mutters, in a low voice that really never fails to surprise me. How has my little brother grown up to be this big and strong? It astounds me. From his fumbling around it still doesn’t seem like he’s gotten much better with his words, though, or maybe that’s just because he’s talking to me. “Err. Hello?”

He’s looking at me, actually looking at me, and his purple eyes look very confused as he sees me and how my mouth’s begun turning up at the corners, of its own volition. I knew I shouldn’t try smiling. I knew it makes me look like some psycho. But anyway, as long as I’ve gotten his attention. “You look very nice.”

“Ahh, well, you look nicer!” Rei says, making an uncertain hand gesture, before jerking away and looking scared. “I mean – I don’t mean that you didn’t look nice before, or something, I just mean to say that you look nicer than _I_ do, in any sense of the word. Because nothing can compare to you, and I’m not just saying that because you’re King – but no, that doesn’t mean that I don’t disrespect your position, please understand –”

“Calm down, Rei, it’s fine,” I say, raising both my hands to stop his babbling, for while it was adorable in its own way, he had also been scaring himself out of his mind and into a corner. “It’s all right. Anyway. So this is a party?”

“Yes,” Rei says, a soft smile on his face as we both look out on the dance floor. “It’s…warmer, than I expected. I’ve no idea what I _did_ expect, though…”

Rei’s smile falls, a bit, and that’s the time when I’m reminded that the last social gathering Rei had been through was _our parents’ funeral_.  I have to change the subject, fast.

“Rei, you still like fatty tuna, right?”

“Yes…why do you ask, Haru- _aniue_?”

“I suggest you look at the furthest table to your right. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

“I wonder…oh!” Rei exclaims, his eyes absolutely _lighting up_ when he sees what I got for him. “Haru- _aniue_ , you didn’t have to.”

“But I did.” I say, feeling the pleased smile on my face as I watch Rei mentally calculate how many pieces of sushi there are and how much he can stuff himself silly with before being called a slob. “Those are traded from Iwami, the fisher kingdom? You better make it worth the effort of dealing with them...”

“And I know you don’t like things that have ‘too much effort’, Haru- _aniue_ ,” Rei says, repeating a phrase I used to tell him when we were younger.  “So, yes, I am grateful for this. Thank you very much, Haru- _aniue_.”

He looks at me with so much _hope_ behind his expression that I just can’t stop myself, I know I have to tell him someday, and I might as well tell him now, before anything else. “Rei, I have to say –”

“….Your Majesties,” the herald says, suddenly reappearing at our side. _Damn_ my luck. “The Princess of Iwatobi.”

“It’s ‘ _Iwami’_!” The Princess hisses under her breath, which makes both Rei and I muffle our laughter behind our hands – Iwami’s been one of our closest trading partners, and ever since the birth of their youngest prince the surrounding kingdoms have begun referring to it as ‘ _Iwatobi_ ’, as in the rockhopper penguin, after said prince’s boundless energy.

This prince – the little brother of the princess standing in front of us right now – is just Rei’s age, if I recall correctly, and in another world I would’ve liked them to meet, but from the stories I’ve heard it’ll just be switching uncertain death at my hands for death by annoyance at that Prince’s hands. I’ve heard he makes short work of having his nannies turn in their resignations with shaking hands, tearful eyes, and minds that know too much.

“Princess Umi of Iwami, at your service,” the Princess goes on, her curtsy lasting a beat longer than it should’ve, probably to show off how low-cut the neckline of her gown is? As if that’ll work on me. The most it had done was attract every stare of every older noble in the room, and make Rei flush look away and flush red in embarrassment, and I kinda want to bundle her up in cloaks and reprimand her sisters for letting her go out in that dress. Maybe it’s my big brother instinct speaking. “As your closest partner in trade, I think it only right that I be the one you take in your first dance as King,” she says, batting her long eyebrows.

“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t dance.” This is the part where I’d turn her completely away, but Father once told me that this was tantamount to declaring war, which I could never understand. In which world was it okay to declare war on a kingdom just because their King didn’t dance with you, couldn’t dance with you, because maybe he’d freeze your hands off? I don’t even want to complete my sentence this way, but I have to. The things I do for my kingdom. “…but my brother does.”

“Oh? Lucky for me, then.” the Princess says, wrapping her arm around Rei’s and grinning. “Shall we?”

“I – err, actually, no, wait, _Haru-aniue!!_ ” Rei somehow lets out, as the Princess drags him off to the dance floor, and I muffle an un-Kingly chuckle behind my hand and mouth ‘ _sorry_ ’.

I spend the rest of the night depleting the mackerel dishes of the buffet and nodding mindlessly at older nobles as they talk with, no, _at_ , me. They’ve drunken too much by this point anyway, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be making any sense. As if they’ve made sense in the first place. Their existence makes me very irrationally glad that this isn’t a democracy.

I don’t look at Rei and his exuberant dance partner as much as I want to, which is to say I only look at them every five minutes. The Princess is making too much of a fuss of it, while Rei, poor Rei, quietly shuffles along – my little brother can’t dance. Is horrible at it, really, but oh god does he _try_. Like I said. The things we do for our kingdom.

There’s also the fact that when the Princess holds my little brother close, actually goes and _dares_ to press her generous chest against his, I have to overcome the very compelling urge to just go and freeze her feet solid. Which isn’t exactly a polite way to treat a guest. _Damn it_.

When he comes back to me I allow him to lean against me for support as he adjusts one of his shoes. “How was she?” I ask, the barest hint of tightly-controlled anger tainting my otherwise-amused tone.

“For someone in taller heels? I, I am _astounded_. Could barely keep up.” Rei grumbles, and something in his tone – so much like when he was grumbling over his watercolors when we were younger – sets off a quiet round of laughter, one we both share. “But her aside – it’s wonderful, Haru- _aniue_. Tonight has been wonderful. _Beautiful_.” Rei says, his eyes soft and content as he looks at me. “I wish it were like this all the time.”

 _I wish I got to be near you like this all the time,_ he thinks but doesn’t say. He doesn’t have to. I’ve recognized that look, am seeing it on my reflection in his eyes. I’m about to say that it _could_ happen, that we _could_ be like this all the time, that he’ll never have to be scared of me again, but –

The ballroom lights bounce coldly off his single lock of dark, midnight-black hair, and just like that I am reminded so terribly why we can’t be like this all the time.

I have to keep him safe from me. It’s the least I can do, for our parents, for my sanity, for _Rei_.

“It can’t be like this all the time, Rei.”

“But – but Haru- _aniue_ –”

“It just. It _can’t_ be, and that’s _final_.” I say, turning away from the distraught look on his face. How many times did I think I never wanted to be the cause of that?

But then again, how many times did I say that I don’t care what he ends up thinking of me, so long as I can keep him safe from myself?

I have to tell him _tonight_ , I think, as the power thrums through my veins again, wanting very much to reach out to Rei and keep him there so I won’t ever have to let him go. No, magic, _stop_ _that_. I _really_ have to tell him, before I go and do something drastic. Like freeze his dance partner’s legs solid, like I said earlier.

But before I am able to say anything, though, Rei’s turning away from me and I can’t see the look on his face, but I can hear his voice crack as he says “Excuse me for a bit,” heading off to the dance floor. I look on as he makes his way through everyone, how his shoulders are slumped and his posture not perfect like he practices it to be, and I just want nothing else but to call out to him so I can talk to him in private and tell him, but the thing about being King is that you’re not supposed to raise your voice, not even in a party held for your benefit.

One of the nobles, who had gotten a little bit too engrossed in his conversation to notice his surroundings, makes this really wide swooping gesture that makes Rei trip, and oh no, he’s going to fall down, flat on his face, and I can feel the magic humming in my veins, wanting to be set free of these gloves, wanting to reach for him and steady him –

– Until, of course, someone else gets there first. Bright eyes, blond wavy hair, smaller and of a slimmer built than Rei. He looks vaguely familiar, but then I can see Rei’s lips smiling fondly as they form the words “ _Nagisa-kun_?” and…that, just that. It’s enough.

Enough to make my blood cold because how on _earth_ did Rei get to know Prince Nagisa of Iwami, and how come my little brother is now referring to said prince so casually, so _intimately_??

Prince Nagisa, unlike his sister, does not bring Rei to the dance floor, which is good for him because if he did he’d be frozen into a block of solid ice faster before he could say something cliché like ‘ _this is our song_ ’. Instead he brings Rei to the buffet and eats every sweet thing in sight as my brother nibbles on the tuna I mentioned earlier, smiling fondly all the while.

I walk through the crowd, wanting very much to talk to Rei again, maybe Kingly insinuate how I didn’t want to distress him earlier, how he should really introduce the new friend he’s made, and how Prince Nagisa shouldn’t mind me borrowing him for a moment, because I _really_ need to tell Rei about my powers so he understands why, earlier, Prince Nagisa had been having trouble with removing his lips from the rim of his glass. (And here I thought I was so far beyond those rookie mistakes.)

But when I reach the table where they had been chatting at…they were gone. I look around to see where they might’ve gone, but I couldn’t see them. Maybe he had seen me going for him and ran away? I think, my heart growing heavy as I do so. I am about to continue looking around, maybe call some guards to find him so I can talk to him, but then some nobles approach me and I can’t exactly tell them that talking to them is troublesome and that I have more important things to be doing, can I.

Half an hour passes without neither hide nor hair of Rei or Prince Nagisa and now I want to call my army to look for them.

An hour passes, and I call one of my soldiers to look for them. He nods, once, and discreetly runs off.

The second hour passes, and when my brother walks in with Prince Nagisa’s arm around his, his bright eyes sparkling with a light that could rival Prince Nagisa’s, an unmistakable lightness to his step, I know exactly what he’s about to say, before he says it.

Oh _shit_.

“Haru- _aniue_!” Rei calls, and then startles, backtracks, coughs in the way he does when he switches off to speaking formally. As if he thought he didn’t have the right to refer to me familiarly, anymore, and my already-broken heart shatters a little more. God, grief _does_ make me poetic. “I mean, my King, may I present to you: Prince Nagisa of Iwami.”

“It is an honor to meet you, Haru-ch – I _mean_ , Your Highness,” the smaller Prince says, trying very hard to muffle his giggling. Rei’s...giggling too, he is apparently still capable of _giggling_ , and why is this news to me?

“An honor, as well,” I murmur, nodding in acknowledgment. And, despite the fact that I know it’s not exactly protocol-dictated, I ask “You had something to tell me?” so they could stop giggling. Oh, _please_ , Nagisa, Rei, please stop giggling. _And_ embracing each other. It is _very_ hard to hold back all this water, don’t you know?

“A-ah, right, yes, my King, we have to tell you something...our honor...yes, but...blessing, love, yes, right, no, we mean...” Rei trails off, as both Nagisa and he giggle, talking over each other and thinking it the funniest thing ever. I suck in a deep breath.

“What we mean is, well, you see, it would be our forever honor, I mean, our _absolute_ honor! If you were to give us your blessing, hee hee,” Nagisa chuckles, as my brother, my darling little brother, actually goes and allows the smaller prince to nuzzle into his side like one of his attached kittens. “For our _marriage_.”

The last time I saw Rei he had been having problems reaching the middle shelf of our pantry. This is _not_ supposed to be happening.

“How about the ceremony?” Rei asks, as Nagisa continues embracing him, “Can we have that here?”

“Of _course_ , Rei-chan!”

_Who the hell are you and **why** are you calling my little brother ‘Rei-chan’!?_

“ _Excuse me_ ,” I enunciate, clearly, in a last-ditch effort to appear kingly and unruffled. If only I really felt as detached as I sound. “I beg your pardon. But I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Oh, we really haven’t worked out the details, ourselves!” Rei says, pushing up his glasses with the hand that Nagisa isn’t holding onto. He inherited the bad eyesight from Father – Mother once told me that they both pushed up their glasses at three kinds of moods: when they were angry, nervous, or _deliriously happy_. It’s plain to see which category my little brother now falls under. “I mean, of course we’ll just have a little ceremony, just family, you know, nothing fancy, and as for the wedding feast -”

“I’m fine with _anything_ so long as there’s strawberry in the cake!” Nagisa pipes up.

“Of course there’ll be strawberry cake, as long as that’s what _you_ desire, Nagisa-kun.” Rei says, pressing a kiss to Nagisa’s wavy hair and this is my little brother, my **_dearest_** _baby brother_ , who’s being tremendously affectionate towards this guy he just met – when, _today_? –  surely I can’t be blamed if I want to take out my frustration on freezing a punch bowl.

Or _fifteen_.

Let the guests think what they want. Better the punch bowls than _them_ , right?

“And are you really sure my sisters should be a part of this, I mean, Rei-chan, I told you they’re _horrible_ to be around, remember?”

“Of course, Nagisa-kun. They’re your family, after all,” Rei says, throwing a pointed look my direction, “Family’s _important_.”

“All three of them?”

“Yes, all three of them,” Rei says, and my head’s in such a shape that it takes me this long before I remember that Iwami _does_ have three princesses.

“But they’ll be adamant about bringing their kids along,” Nagisa pouts, while my head continues on spinning, “And Mizuki- _nee_ _alone_ already has five children!”

“I don’t care if your sisters have a _battalion_ of children; what matters is that they’re your family and should be there on your special day.” Rei says. “We have more than enough room for them here.”

 _Wait_.

“Actually, we don’t,” I say, carefully, my mind finally catching up with the rest of me.

“What?” Rei asks, quizzically, as if only just then realizing that they were talking to me.

“ _Nobody_ ’s sisters, _or_ nephews, _or_ nieces, are staying here.” I say, glaring daggers at Prince Nagisa and enunciating every word very clearly so he doesn’t miss any of them. “And _no one_ is getting _married_.”

“Your Majesty -” Rei starts, but I raise my hand, silencing him.

“Can I talk to you, Rei?” I put out through gritted teeth, feeling the power thrumming in my veins and wanting nothing more but to freeze this guy who has the _gall_ to call himself my brother’s fiancé but _no_ , apparently that’s not kingly behavior. “ _Alone_?”

Rei _must’ve_ heard that edge of urgency in that last word, because for a moment his eyes are soft and open as he looks at me and he looks almost like the little boy who’d stood, confused, as I locked my bedroom door twelve years ago. But he seems to remember that – that he’s grown, and that he isn’t, or rather _shouldn’t_ be that boy anymore. His eyes harden, showing me and my shaking, clenched hands no mercy as he straightens his posture and says, “No, your Majesty. Whatever you have to say, you can say to _both_ of us.”

If you’d thought that I was about to say ‘ _by the way Rei I have ice powers and almost killed you when we were little_ ’ with that annoying Prince Nagisa soldered onto Rei’s hip, then you have to give me some credit because I am better than that.

I am _so_ much better than that, in fact, that my next words just come flowing out before I can even start to think them through. I stand to my full height – still a few inches short of Rei’s impressive one, even when counting this gigantic crown – and try to channel all the King-ness our Father used to emanate in waves, then say: “Fine. You can’t get married to someone you _just met._ ”

“You _can_ ,” Rei insists, taking a half-step forward, “if it’s _true love_.”

“What do _you_ know about true love?” I hear myself say, and it gives me pause because oh _wow_ , that’s so hypocritical of me.

The closest thing I’ve ever felt to romantic love would be...whenever I used to see bodies of water, and whenever I used to dream of the creation that called himself Makoto. But that’s _another_ can of worms I don’t want to deal with right now.

This is something that Rei catches onto, quickly. “More than _you_ do, at any rate,” he snaps, pushing up his glasses again, angrily, this time. “All you know is how to _shut people out_!”

 _Ouch_.

He’s justified in thinking so, of course, but _still_. Low blow. Also so far from the truth I actually want to cry. And, again, _ouch_.

I try to gather up the remaining slivers of my composure. Operative word being _try_ : my hands are still shaking, the magic in them raring to be set free. “Look. You asked for my blessing. My answer is _no_.”

“Your Majesty,” Nagisa interjects, stepping forward as if to reach for me, to call me aside and speak with me. “If I may just add that -”

“No, you may not, and you should probably leave, now.” I rattle off, hoping my monotone doesn’t show how terrified I am right now. Nagisa’s not clinging onto Rei now, and it would be so easy to just freeze him solid in the middle of this much people...no, _people_. As long as these people are in the same room as I, while I am in this state, their lives are at risk. I will not allow that. So I call for my guards, and tell them, “The party’s over. Close the gates.”

This sets Rei off however, because he catches up with me, quickly, and reaches for my arm. I snatch said arm away, but it’s no use – he’s already got one of my gloves in his hand.

Oh no. No no _no_. This is not good at all.

“My King – Haru- _aniue_ , _please_ ,” Rei says, clasping his large hands around the ice-blue fabric of my gloves, sounding as distraught as he had been when our parents died. “Please. I cannot live like this anymore!”

This is the part where I should’ve sighed, pulled him aside and told him the truth. But right now – right now the magic is humming at my fingertips, at my _exposed_ and _unhindered_ fingertips, and if I don’t want to hurt Rei, or anyone else, I have to get them away from me, fast, no matter what, no matter if I make a scene so long as nobody gets hurt.

So I say the two words I _never_ wanted to tell Rei, not now, not _ever_ : “Then _leave_.”

I turn quickly away so I don’t have to see the hurt that blossoms on his face. **_Leave_** _, Rei,_ I will him silently, _leave before I flood this castle completely and drown myself in it. Save yourself...and your boyfriend. Maybe. Whatever you want._

Rei, bless his soul, is not one to be cowed so easily. It’s one of the things I admire most about him, but why does he have to let it show _right now_? “Why do you _shut me out_?” he screams, anguished and definitely hurting. “Why do you shut the _world_ out?”

“ _Enough_ , Rei,” I grunt, very much aware that everyone’s looking at us now. And that the telltale tendrils of shiny blue magic are making their way past my clenched, ungloved fist.

“Haru- _aniue_ , what on _earth_ are you so afraid of??” Rei screams, and the enormity of my answer to that – it all crashes down on me.

How the kingdom will react.

How I’ll ruin our family name.

How I’ll _fail_ our parents’ memory.

How _you’ll_ inevitably be lost to me.

“Rei, I said, _enough_!” I snap, and that’s when it all happens.

Water, from the windows, from the floor tiles, the curtains. Water coming from everywhere and turning the ballroom into a makeshift swimming pool.

 _I let them all down again_ , I think, as the noblemen attempt to wade after me as I swim quickly away, their shouts of “ _demon_ ” and “ _sorcerer_ ” and “ _monster_ ” ringing in my ears as I do so.

Maybe Rei calls for me in the midst of all this madness, but I can’t bring myself to care.

I don’t care. Not anymore. Look what good caring has done for me.

I faintly hear the townspeople gasp in awe as their King paddles through the water in full dress uniform, the crown heavy on my head. If you were to calculate this using Rei’s favorite physics formulas you’d find out that with the weight of the hardware on my head and the so-called fruit salad on my chest alone, I shouldn’t be able to stay afloat, shouldn’t be able to paddle this quickly.

But that’s what I’m doing right now.

At least, even if everyone else no longer does, the water still loves me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the halfway point! Also known as the point where we bid goodbye to Haru-aniue's POV to make way for Rei's. Why yes I am chickening out of writing Haru's "Let It Go" sequence - it's basically Haru making a gigantic swimming lined with ice and stripping down to jammers made of the same material of Elsa's Ice Queen dress. Really, nothing to write home about.
> 
> I'm also recycling the names of Nagisa's sisters that I used in [Ichiban](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1293586) \- Mizuki, Izumi, and Umi. Mizuki's around twenty-seven upwards, married with five children, Izumi's twenty-five and has four, and Umi's twenty-one.
> 
> While we're on the topic of ages! In the present-day of this AU, Haru is 21, Nagisa and Rei 19 (the meat of this chapter is on Haru's 21st birthday, June 30, and on this date neither Nagisa nor Rei have turned 20 yet)
> 
> Advanced note for chapter 3: Rin is 20. Makoto is a magic man made of ice and is whatever age Haru wills him to be, but for chapter 1's purposes he physically looks 13, and in chapter 3 onwards he looks 21.
> 
> Also: I still have no clue what kind of monarchy this is supposed to be. I am cribbing the general setting of the kingdom from the Splash Free! ED AU, but I'm also using Japanese honorifics and Western terminologies. Later on I'm gonna have Rei buying swimming gear, and I've no idea what he'd use in a fictional Disney Princess (TM) universe, but I might just wing it and have him wear his canon legskins...I don't know. I thought that I thought this through enough, it turns out I still have a lot to learn...
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading this, and I hope you like the next chapters to come, as well!


	3. please don't shut me out again!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest to find Haru, from Rei's POV.

I am torn between being thankful that my dress uniform, as befitting the warm weather, is made of light fabrics, and being immensely regretful for it all the same, because – _blast it all_ – I never really expected the water to be _this_ cold.

Then again, guess that’s just Haru- _aniue_ for you, I think, dryly. Cold to the very core.

The shock will kick in shortly, I’m sure of it. But as for now – for now there is a lot of things I have to deal with. Nagisa’s sister, coughing wildly as she tries to tread water in her ridiculous dress, is one of them.

“Are you all right?” I ask, holding out my hand to her, as would be the polite thing to do when one’s future in-law seems to be flirting with hypothermia.

Princess Umi visibly flinches – a full 180 from how fiercely she had clung to me earlier. “Don’t you _dare_ touch me,” she growls, and fixes me with a malicious glare, the likes of which I do _not_ enjoy seeing on a face faintly reminiscent of Nagisa’s. “You share that monster’s blood, don’t you? Aren’t _you_ a monster, too?”

“I – me – no! I’m ordinary. Completely ordinary.” _And Haru-aniue is **not** a monster_ , I think, angrily, wanting to do something like…I don’t know, _bare my teeth_ at her, but that wouldn’t be princely _at all_.

I’m so lost in reining in my feelings that I don’t even notice Nagisa wading through the water until he’s right behind me. “That’s right, Rei-chan is the most _ordinary_ guy you’ll ever meet!”

“Nagisa-kun,” I deadpan, trying to pry his arms off my waist. He doesn’t even budge.

“I mean that in a good way, of course, Rei-chan.” Nagisa coos, blowing a kiss up to the general direction of my cheek.

“Yeah, whatever, but his brother nearly killed me, _that’s_ for sure.” Princess Umi snaps, alternating patting down her damp skirts, as if that’d help at all, and giving both Nagisa and I a ferocious glare. I am now certain that I _don’t_ like this sister. “I mean, c’mon, you saw that, he _drowned_ me!”

“It’s not King Haru-chan’s fault you dunno how to swim, sis.” Nagisa snorts. “And it wasn’t as if he wanted to drown _you_ specifically – though if he _did_ want to, he should’ve told me, _I_ would’ve helped him.”

“ _Nagisa-kun_ -”

“You little brat, _honestly_ -”

“And ‘sides, it’s not as if King Haru-chan’s the type who’d drown his kingdom and mean it, yanno.” Nagisa continues on, still insisting on using that nickname that might give Haru- _aniue_ an aneurysm, had he heard of it. _If_ he’ll ever hear of it. _If_ he’ll ever deign to spend ten minutes in Nagisa’s presence. “I’m sure it was all just an accident, Umi- _nee_.”

“You’re _right_ , Nagisa-kun,” I affirm, whilst successfully prying Nagisa off me, suddenly being on the receiving end of both siblings’ shocked looks. I clear my throat and try not to balk at the attention. “It was an accident. Haru- _aniue_ didn’t mean to do this, I’m sure. In fact, if anything...” – the truth hurts but omitting it does nothing but make me a liar – “...it was all _my_ fault.” I say, pushing up my glasses as I do so.

“Rei-chan...” I hear Nagisa murmur, probably planning to say senseless platitudes like _‘it’s not your fault’_ or _‘we don’t blame you’_.

“No, Nagisa-kun,” I talk over him, because while the sentiment behind those words would be nice, for me to believe in them would be tantamount to lying to myself. “It was _my_ fault. _I_ pushed him, and so...I guess it’s only right that _I_ be the one to go after him.”

There’s this long, drawn-out moment of silence where everyone present tries to process the enormity of what I’m saying, and while they go through that I ask one of my guards to fetch me a boat.

Most of the townspeople and visiting royals see me off as I set sail on an impromptu pier. Had everything not been flooded I am pretty sure that this would’ve just been one long stretch of endless sand.

 _Tottori_ , in general, is just one long stretch of endless sand, with a smattering of houses and a sprawling palace. It actually comes as a surprise to everyone that we _have_ a boat in storage.

Our royal parents, bless their souls, had definitely anticipated for everything. I wonder if they anticipated for, _knew of_ , Haru- _aniue_ ’s magic, too?

“I’m coming with you,” Nagisa says, breaking the silence, his bright eyes shining with a determination I never thought I’d see on his face. “You _have_ to let me come with you, Rei-chan.”

“No, you aren’t,” I say, turning to him and blocking him from following me in the boat. “You are needed here, in Tottori. In fact -” I clear my throat, and as everyone’s heads swivel up to look at me I say, “I put Prince Nagisa in charge.”

That of course causes a lot of whispering amongst them, but I don’t pay them any heed – right now, in Haru- _aniue_ ’s absence, I am the highest-ranking monarch and if I say Nagisa’s in charge then _Nagisa’s in charge_. I trust he’d know what’s best for Tottori.

“Rei-chan, I don’t like you being alone. Be careful,” he says, tears welling up in his eyes as he clasps one of my hands in both of his. “Make sure you don’t get hurt by King Haru-chan.”

“Nagisa-kun, don’t be ridiculous,” I scoff, putting my free hand atop our clasped ones. “Haru- _aniue_ ’s my brother. He will never hurt me.”

I turn away, walking to the far end of the boat, and am pretty sure no one notices me mutter “I _hope_.” under my breath.

.

.

Somewhere along the way I realize that it is an absolutely _horrendous_ idea to go off and sail to Haru- _aniue_ all by my lonesome.

In a true testament to the stubbornness that seems to have been shared by the current members of the house of Tottori, this realization only comes to be somewhere in between the part where my boat splits cleanly in half, and the part where I begin flailing about in the water.

 _Really_ nice logical skills at work there, self.

I could’ve _at least_ accounted for the probability that the boat would not survive the journey somehow – it’s an older model, could’ve been bought when Haru- _aniue_ and I were younger, even before that, judging on how obscure its design is – but hot on the heels of Haru- _aniue_ leaving behind all that water, my mental processes weren’t any more sophisticated than _Aniue is in water, must get across water somehow without needing to swim, oh look a boat_.

For all I care I could’ve gone all the way to wherever Haru- _aniue_ may be whilst hanging off a piece of wood.

…just my luck, then, that I get to hang onto one of the ship’s broken pieces. I still have very vague, very fleeting memories of Haru- _aniue_ teaching me dolphin kicks when we were younger, as well as the young man – was he one of Haru- _aniue_ 's friends? Does Haru- _aniue_ even  _have_ friends? – who helped us, so I draw on that for instruction, as I continue floating along.

After a few minutes of this, I find myself being dragged by my collar, and upended into rocking wooden floorboards.

“Huh.” a man murmurs, as he watches me shake excess water off my hair. “I was expecting to see _fish_ , not people.”

I cough, assess whether or not that statement had been requiring an answer, and deciding that it didn’t need one. “Thank you for rescuing me, err...”

“Sasabe. My name is Sasabe.”

“Sasabe-san. Thank you, Sasabe-san.” I say, getting to my feet and making a waterlogged bow. “May I ask for your assistance?”

“Shoot.” The other man replies, carelessly, going back inside his...huh, looks like I ended up at the literal doorstep of a merchant’s trading post – _Sasabe’s_ trading post. Lucky me. “Go ahead.”

“Do you have any clothes that’d be better suited to sailing?” I ask. “Or a swimsuit? And some kind, any kind really, of flotation device.”

“Gotcha, sit tight for a bit.” Sasabe says, snapping his fingers and gesturing for me to take a seat near the corner.

I wasn’t _exactly_ asking for special treatment, but the Tottori emblem on my gloves is kind of a dead giveaway.

“By the way...” I trail off, watching Sasabe rifle through a stack of clothes. “Has another young man ever gone this way before? To cite a probable example...the King, maybe?”

“Puh- _lease_ ,” Sasabe drawls, rolling hus eyes. “Only one crazy enough to sail in waters these deep is _you_ -”

As if on cue, the shop door blows open in a sudden gust of wind, framing the newcomer in a backdrop of angry winds and crashing waves. I had been _in_ those waters just a few minutes ago, and I swallow down the fear this awakes in me.

“- you, and this guy.” Sasabe continues, jerking his head towards the newcomer. “Help yourself, Rin.” he says, before going back to rifling through the boxes.

It’s only now that I get to see this Rin. Dressed in dark colors, some sort of hat covering his eyes, a scarf pulled over his mouth. He’s just about my height, and his eyes are thin slits as he looks at me.

He grumbles something, but between the low tone of his voice and the scarf muffling his words I can’t make heads or tails of it. “I beg your pardon?”

“Ropes,” Rin says, his voice clipped as he moves closer to me. “ _Behind you_.”

“Oh, okay then,” I say, moving aside and watching Rin take a bunch of rope from a hook behind me.

“Hey, Rin, d’you know where all this water’s coming from?” Sasabe asks, returning to his counter with a bundle of clothes and a kickboard. “We haven’t had a downpour this crazy in centuries.”

“You’re off by a few decades,” Rin scoffs. Hearing his voice more clearly – he’s got a rather nice voice, if a bit on the gruff side. “It’s from the North.”

The only thing I’m thinking right now is: _Haru-aniue_.

“Isn’t the North mostly empty, though?” Sasabe says, piling up my purchases neatly as to not get lost in the mess of things Rin keeps throwing his way.

“Yeah, but I’m no astrologist. Dunno why the water’s coming from there, only that it is.” Rin says, tossing more things our way, until – until he sees a scroll, unrolls it, and gasps.

“ _Holy shit, Sasabe_ ,” Rin interjects, as both Sasabe and I are struck silent by the contents of the scroll Rin is holding. Even from this distance and my eyesight, the contents are mistakable – the generously soft curves of hair and body, the gently shadowed colors, the indecent garments. “Did you just – did you just make a... _portrait_ of Merchant Amakata?”

“I did _not_ ,” Sasabe seethes, his cheeks coloring a dangerous red.

“Yeah you _did_! I mean, c’mon, there’s your signature right here, god, you’re such a damned _pervert_ -”

“ _What_ ,” Sasabe growls, standing up slowly. With that look on his face he looks like a man I’d probably run away from. “ _What_ , did you just call me, Rin?”

When Sasabe cheerfully tosses Rin out his door onto the open waters I begin feeling very terrified for my survival rate.

“ _So_ sorry for all the violence, really.” Sasabe says, grinning as he turns to me. “I’ve known lil’ Rin-Rin since he was a kid. The filthy mouth’s a new thing – since he got that boat of his, I’m guessing.”

“Boat?”

“Yeah, Rin’s got a boat. Nothing special, but he’s a merchant, so it’s a bit roomier than the usual boats I see ‘round here.” Sasabe says, settling behind the counter and poking at my pile of purchases. “Just the outfit, shoes and the kickboard, yeah?”

I steal a glance out the window, where, sure enough, a sopping-wet Rin is grumbling as he adjusts the sails of his boat.

I’ve got an idea.

.

.

.

It’s the quickest I’ve changed clothes, _ever_ , but even so, I only _barely_ manage to catch Rin before he sails away.

“You there, _wait_!!! No, I mean -” I catch myself, clear my throat, and draw myself up to my full height. “ _Stop right there_.”

“What do you want?” Rin sneers, standing up to his full height, as well. I am, unfortunately, almost of the sane height as him.

This plan would’ve gone easier if I were more physically imposing. And if Rin were the kind of person scared by physically imposing people. But oh, well.

I square my shoulders and as I say my next words I do so whilst asking myself: _if Haru-aniue were here, how would he say this?_ “I want you to take me North.”

 “I don’t take people places.” Rin scoffs, pulling his hat tighter over his eyes. He makes a tentative move to unfasten his boat from the pier, and – and what I do know is that that boat cannot be allowed to set sail without me being on it.

“Let me rephrase that,” I say, affecting an aura of calm as I aim at his broad back. And _throw_.

“ _Ow_!” Rin yelps as the bag collides with his back, catching him off-guard and off-balance. “ _Seriously_ , dude, what is your problem -”

I don’t get to hear how that sentence is supposed to end, because he opens the bag and sees the supplies he’d hoarded stuffed inside, and looks at the variety with a dazed look. It was a bit expensive, his stash, but nothing that dress jacket of mine couldn’t be traded for.

“ _Take me North_ ,” I repeat, making sure my eyes form angry little slits. It’s the kind of look that Haru- _aniue_ had used when he told me to leave with Nagisa – I’m so focused on my mission of antagonizing Rin that this memory only makes my heart ache a little.

“We leave at dawn, dork-prince. And you forgot to bring food.” Rin concedes, acting flippant but very pointedly not looking me in the eyes. I sigh, aim at his back again, and throw – not expecting him to suddenly crouch down and have the second bag collide with his head. “ _OW_! What’s the matter with you??”

Rin’s eyes are seething when he glares at me, and I flinch back, am about to ask for forgiveness, but _that_ wouldn’t be something Haru- _aniue_ would do.

“We leave _now_.” I insist, my voice still low and threatening, matching Rin glare-for-glare.

“Fine then,” Rin sighs, rolling his eyes and letting out an impressive (if not too overacted) yawn. “So long as I call dibs on all the good jerky.”

.

.

“ _So_ , princey,” Rin grins, as he readjusts the sails, “Why’s the King suddenly so obsessed with water?”

“You see...it’s actually _my_ fault,” I reply, sheepishly. “See, I got engaged, and Haru- _aniue_ got pretty distraught by it since I’d only, well, met Nagisa-kun that day,” Rin pauses, suddenly, and it’d unnerve me but he continues pulling on the ropes soon after so I take that as my cue to go on. “Then Haru- _aniue_ said that he wouldn’t bless the marriage!”

“ _Princey_ ,” Rin mumbles, his tone heavy with disbelief. I wonder why? “D’you mean to tell me – _am I getting this right_ – that you got yourself engaged to a guy you just met _that day_?”

Never thought Rin’d be the type to like stating the obvious. I roll my eyes. “ _Yes_. It’s nice to see that your hearing facilities are in excellent working order. Anyway, then I got mad, so he got mad, and when he was about to walk away I reached for his glove, which made him even _more_ mad, so I thought, maybe he had some secret mysophobia?”

“Wait wait _wait_ , Princey – _you got engaged to a guy you just met_?” Rin cries, letting go of and walking away from the ropes to shake me by the shoulders, his eyes bright and indignant as he fixes me with a glare. “Didn’t your parents ever warn you about _strangers_??”

“Yes...” I trail off, raising an eyebrow at the grip Rin has on me. I pry off his hands, carefully, as I inch closer to the side of the boat that does not have him in it. “Yes, they _did_.”

“You’re _impossible_ ,” Rin groans, shaking his head and walking back to his original position.

“But Nagisa-kun doesn’t count, because he is absolutely _not_ a stranger.” I insist, pushing up my glasses.

“Oh _yeah_ , princey? Humor me, then,” Rin quips, the beginnings of a smirk on his face. “What’s his last name?”

I’m stumped, but bear with me here – do royal families even _have_ last names? We’re almost always referred to as Given Name, Title of Kingdom, so maybe it’d make sense for Nagisa’s de facto surname to be... “Iwami,” I answer, pleased at myself and my cleverness.

“Eye color?”

“ _Beautiful_ ,” I hear myself sigh, and Rin chokes on his laughter. I fix him a glare but make no move to retract my answer – because Nagisa’s eyes are an iridescent shade of pink-tinted golden burgundy sunshine and to describe them with mere pithy words alone would be, in my humble yet very correct opinion, tantamount to _blasphemy_.

“Favourite food?”

“Strawberries,” I scoff. Nagisa had not at all been subtle about _that_ , at the very least.

“Shoe size?” Rin croons, with this ridiculously _obscene_ tilt of his eyebrow.

“I – wha – that is _completely_ irrelevant!”

“Oh, but it _is_ , princey,” Rin says, pulling harder on the ropes as we reach one particularly insistent wave. “What if you get married, right, and then you see the things he does that _really_ piss you off?” Rin’s apparently prone to big, swooping, dramatic hand gestures, and he’s executing a pretty good display of them as he goes on speaking. “What if you don’t like the way he eats? Or how he keeps his stuff? What if you don’t like the way he drools in his sleep?”

“ _Drools_?”

“And, well, since the way you talk about ‘im sounds to me like he’s the clingy kinda fellow. What if he drools over your nice shirts, huh, princey?”

I cringe away from that mental image, but Rin’s smirk is already so smug so I try very hard not to let my feelings about this matter show. Don’t want to give him more ammunition. “Nagisa-kun would _not_ act so crassly. He is a _prince_ , I’ll have you know.”

“Fine, _fine_ , just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“You know what, it doesn’t matter,” I huff, watching the water rippling as our boat continues on sailing. “In the face of _true love_ , such arbitrary details like that are irrelevant.”

“That doesn’t _sound_ like true love,” Rin clucks, shaking his head.

That is the _second time_ that someone had said that to me in the span of twenty-four hours, and to be completely honest with you I am _sick_ of hearing it. “ _What_ ,” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest, “Are you some kind of _love expert_ of sorts?”

“Not me...” Rin mumbles, almost bashfully, rubbing his nape. “...but I know some guys who are.”

“You ‘ _know some guys_ ’,” I parrot, disbelieving. Rin doesn’t seem the type to get along with people other than himself, much less people who consider themselves love experts. The difference between an apparent romantic and the brash, joking, scowling Rin is a polarizing one. “I don’t believe you.”

“ _Stop talking_.”

He gets mad really quickly, huh. “No, I am not going to. So tell me more about these fr – _mmmmph_!”

Rin’s got one of his gloved hands to my mouth now, shushing angrily under his breath, and I am about to pry said appendage off me, give this rude man a piece of my mind...when I see _it_.

Ripples forming in the water below. Something is emerging.

“ _Predators_ , no doubt.” Rin says, pulling away from me and grabbing a harpoon. “An _apex_ predator, judging by the speed of its swimming.”

“Huh.” I whisper. “You’ve ascertained that from the ripples on the water alone?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve spent a lifetime on sea, that does things t’ya.” Rin hisses back. “Lemme handle this.”

“Okay then. What should I do, Rin-san?”

“Sit your little royal ass _down_ ,” Rin hisses on, gesturing ‘ _down_ ’ with an angry drop of his hand, “don’t move, an’ for the love of God _don’t get eaten_.”

“But...” I catch sight with some odd sort of pole, clutch it tightly, and repeat myself. “ _But_. I want to help you, Rin-san!”

“No can do, princey.” Rin says, turning away from the rippling water to flash me a sharp smile. “‘M not a big fan of your judgment.”

“Ex _cuse_ me?”

“Aw, c’mon,” Rin drawls, facing front once more. “Who in their right mind’d marry a guy they just met?”

“ _It’s true love_ ,” I seethe, and am about to emphasize this with a sound smack of this pole to his hard head, but then -

 – it emerges.

No, _he_ emerges. He of the soft hair and warm eyes and extravagantly defined muscles. He looks vaguely familiar, and there’s a faint ice-blue sheen to his skin – which, on reflection, almost matches Haru- _aniue_ ’s coloring.

On further reflection, it seems that Rin had just mumbled “ _hot **damn**_ ” under his breath. Rin’s eyes have also grown wide and dark and his mouth is carelessly open, showing his white jagged teeth. _Huh_.

“Excuse me,” I say, stepping in front Rin, who is still very busy with the very arduous task of _gaping_. “But who might you be?”

“Oh, me?” the man says, looking up from where the water laps at his hipbones.

“Stop _staring_ , Rin-san, that’s rude.” I say under my breath. Rin swallows.

“...my name is Makoto.” The man – no, _Makoto_ – says, flashing us both a smile that makes my knees go weak and...makes Rin swallow, _again_. “If it’s not a bother, can I please join you in your boat?”

For someone who says he doesn’t ‘ _take people places_ ’, the speed with which Rin rushes out of his stupor and to Makoto’s aid is remarkable. “No, ‘s a pleasure – I mean, wonderfu – _I mean_. It’s no trouble.”

“Thank you,” Makoto says, grinning again, seemingly oblivious to the ruddy flush on Rin’s cheeks as he pulls Makoto up from the water.

Makoto’s wearing nothing but an oddly familiar pair of ice-blue breeches, and when he bends over to untuck something from a pouch secured around his ankle, the tight fit of said breeches makes itself very evident. This information makes the flush on Rin’s cheekbones almost iridiscent.

“‘ _Who in their right mind marries someone they just met_ ’, you said?” I murmur, before handing Makoto one of our towels, which he accepts with another one of those brilliant smiles.

“Shut _up_ , princey.” Rin seethes, as I step back to his side, feeling disproportionately smug. “I am _not_ gonna just _propose_ to this Makoto, okay?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Just ‘cause he has a _gorgeous_ face and an _amazing_ bod...” Rin pauses, watching as Makoto towels off his hair. “...it doesn’t mean anything.”

“I’m certain.”

“Even though I’m pretty sure man was _not_ supposed to reach that level of...ripped-ness.”

“Of course.”

“You’re having _fun_ with this, aren’t ya.” Rin deadpans, wrenching his gaze away from Makoto to glare at me.

“Turnabout is fair play,” I say, my smug smile still in place as Rin groans. I turn back to Makoto, who seems to have mostly toweled off. “Do you need a shirt, Makoto-san?”

Makoto’s smile is really a beautiful thing. “I’d like one, if you have an extra, but if not -” Here Rin shoves his oversized vest in Makoto’s face, trying to convince us that his face is not on fire. “Thank you...and you must be...?”

“... _yours_ – I mean, Rin. _My name is Rin_.” Really _smooth_ , Rin, I think, biting my lip so I don’t end up laughing. He just might _really_ throw me offboard, this time.

“Thank you, Rin.” Makoto says, ignoring Rin’s flushed cheeks to turn to me. “And you’re Rei-kun, I take it? Gosh, you’ve grown a _lot_.”

“Wait – you _know_ me?”

“Yeah! Haru introduced us, remember?”

As soon as he says this I have a vague memory of kicking, water rushing, a sharp cold pain to my head. But it disappears as soon as it came. This is confusing. “Uh...I think...were you the one who helped me swim? Haru- _aniue_ ’s friend?”

“Yes, well, save for that last one.” he replies. “That’s wishful thinking on my part. I’m not his friend, not exactly – Haru built me.”

“He... _built_ you?” Rin mutters, shell-shocked, which is understandable because he’s basically got a big crush on someone my elder brother made with ice powers and things could get awkward very fast. If they weren’t already.

“Yes...?”

“How does that even _work_?” Rin groans. Turns to me. “Princey?”

“Don’t ask _me_. I just found out that my brother had _powers_ a few hours ago, this is new to me, too.”

Rin nods, somberly. “Fair point.”

.

.

Makoto directs us to where he last saw Haru- _aniue_ , and to be honest the structure is so distinctively _other_ from the sand dunes surrounding it that I know Rin and I would’ve seen it even if Makoto hadn’t been helping. Our reactions would still be the same, though.

“ _Whoa_ ,” Rin gasps, eyes wide and sparkling, “Now _that’s_ ice.”

“Indeed it is,” I breathe, taking in the majesty of the sight in front of us. Not something we’ve ever seen before, at any rate. Haru- _aniue_ ’s not the type of monarch who favors extemporaneous curlicues or intricate crown molding, but his minimalistic style has a majesty to it all its own – tall sharp-edged spires reaching for the heavens, all formed from frosty blue ice. “I never knew ice could be this beautiful.”

“Figures. We don’t exactly _have_ ice reserves down at Tottori that we can sculpt into…works of _art_.” Rin says, running a hand reverently down an ice post. “Flawless. Princey, your bro sure has a whole lotta damned good taste.”

“You think so?”

“Hell yeah you can bet your sweet loot I think so. I mean, a guy with enough good sense to make a _fantastic_ specimen like **_that_ ** –” And here Rin trails off to watch Makoto as he presses his ear against one of the imposing ice castle doors. “– is _definitely_ the sort of guy who’s got a taste I’d approve of. I mean, _seriously_.”

Why do I have the sinking feeling that Haru- _aniue_ wouldn’t take to Rin’s crush any better than he took to my engagement?

Speaking of which. “Rin-san…I think it would be best if you stay out here.”

“Y’serious, princey?” Rin asks. “’Cuz I’m pretty sure your bro has a pool in there, and if you think you’re man enough to actually stop me from swimming in a pool _just a few steps away from me_ , I think you’re cute. And also _wrong_. That’s just not gonna happen.”

“No, it is going to happen. See, Rin-san, I’ve no idea if you remember me saying this, but the last time I introduced someone to Haru- _aniue_ , he flooded everything.” I say, making a wide gesturing motion towards all the water surrounding us. “So you’ll be staying here, whether you like it or not. Makoto-san, I think he’ll stay put better if you were to stay with him.”

“Will you be all right on your own, Rei?” Makoto asks me, worry evident in his green eyes. “Haru…”

“I will be _fine_ ,” I say, squaring my shoulders and forcing myself to smile back. I’m not stupid, I know that my doing this is not safe. After all, Rin had not been the first one to question my decision-making skills – the honor for that goes to the man who now dwells inside this ice castle. And I am going into his lair alone. I know I should be scared out of my wits’ end, but… “It’s Haru- _aniue_. I am certain that he will never hurt me.”

Makoto sighs. “As long as you’re sure you want to be alone, I guess.”

“If you take too long, though, we’re coming in to get ya,” Rin grunts, clearly annoyed at the fact that he’s not allowed to go inside the icy swimming pool palace – and maybe also at the fact that I’ll be facing my super-powered, angry elder brother on my own? Maybe that second guess is a bit of a stretch, since Rin doesn’t seem at all happy with my presence. But it’s a nice thing to think about.

I turn away from my companions, knock, and the icy doors open, for once.

“Haru- _aniue_?” I call out, making my way to a rather impressive flight of stairs. It seems to be leading to a diving board, which means that the pool is…

…right _there_.

I see Haru- _aniue_ emerge from the water, his eyes closed as he shakes water droplets off his hair. The way the light refracts off the water droplets, off the ice blue walls and ceiling, lends him an ethereal look. Which hammers in even more how he isn’t just the King of Tottori, isn’t just my erstwhile elder brother – Haru- _aniue_ is powerful in the same way deities are powerful, and I should take my next steps carefully.

Hair sufficiently dried, Haru- _aniue_ ’s bright blue eyes blink open, and as his gaze wanders over to where I’m standing he calls out, with a disbelieving edge to his voice, “Rei?”

“Yes, Haru- _aniue_ , it’s me.” I reply, numbly watching as my elder brother emerges from the pool water, wearing a shorter version of the tight breeches Makoto had been wearing earlier. “You look…different.”

Haru- _aniue_ gives me a _look_ , so I backtrack, immediately. “I mean – it’s not that I mean you look different in a _bad_ way, it’s just that you’ve gone a long way from your coronation day ensemble.”

“The change was needed; I have reason to believe that these are the best clothes to swim in.” Haru- _aniue_ says, sitting at the edge of the pool, still not looking at me. “Why did you come here?”

“…I have a lot of reasons,” I admit, “but first of all I just want to apologize. I’m sorry, Haru- _aniue_. I really am. I know saying these words _now_ won’t help any bit, but I still want you to know this – if I’d only known, I would have reacted differently.”

Haru- _aniue_ ’s eyes soften at this, looking at me with a gentleness they haven’t had since  a very long time ago. “It’s okay, Rei. I understand. You don’t have to apologize.”

I walk closer to him, eyeing the pool curiously. Maybe this time, he can complete those swimming lessons we had so long ago –

“ _No_ , Rei,” Haru- _aniue_ snaps, backing away from me step-by-step. It’s as if he just _heard_ _me think_ , but even so his reaction is uncalled for – why’d he react so strongly to the idea of me wanting to swim? “You should probably leave now.”

“But…but I just got here? Haru- _aniue_?”

“You belong in Tottori, Rei,” Haru- _aniue_ ’s says, carefully. His arms are wrapped around him as he walks away. As if he’s _cold_ , though I doubt he’d feel cold with his affinity to the water. “As for me – I belong here. Alone. _Free_. Where I can be who I am without putting anyone at risk.”

“Haru- _aniue_ …”

“I _am_ a risk, Rei, I know you’re not dumb enough to ignore that either. In fact you’re very intelligent, I know you know the danger I bring better than I do.” Haru- _aniue_ says, in a decidedly firm voice. “Please leave, now. I’m just trying to protect you.”

“You don’t need to protect me, Haru- _aniue_. I’m – I’m not afraid!” I say, and surprise myself for when I said this I suddenly realize how much this holds true. This is Haru- _aniue_ , my only brother and beloved role model, who I’ve missed dearly for the past decade, who is upon reflection understandably scared by the thought of his little brother marrying because it only serves to show how much time has passed since the last time we met. He will never hurt me. At least, not in the way he thinks. “What I _am_ afraid of, however, is being shut out of your life again. Please let me in, Haru- _aniue_. I know we can make this work. _I know you_.”

“I know you too, Rei.” Once more that elusive gentleness returns to Haru- _aniue_ ’s blue eyes. “And I know better. I know that of all the people whose life would be improved once I’m gone, once my powers aren’t influencing Tottori, you’d be at the very top of the list.”

“Actually…about that…”

In very careful, measured words, I tell Haru- _aniue_ about how, when he had run off, he had effectively drowned Tottori. There’s a reason why I used carefully measured words – it’s because I did expect that look of sheer disbelief on Haru- _aniue_ ’s face.

“The water…it’s everywhere?”

“Yes, yes it is. I had to set sail to reach your location, actually.” I say, taking in the look of disgust Haru- _aniue_ ’s throwing his shaking hands. Proceed _carefully_ , self. “But it’s all right. I _know_ we can fix this, Haru- _aniue_ –”

“But _how_?” Haru- _aniue_ says, his face _anguished_ as he looks back at me. “It’s not as if I can _control_ it, Rei. If I could –” He breaks off suddenly, looking at somewhere over my head. What’s all this got to do with my _hair_? “– but it doesn’t matter. Your safety is important, now. Rei, listen to me: _you must go now_.”

“In that you’re mistaken, Haru- _aniue_ ,” I huff, indignantly, in the style of all younger brothers accustomed to having their wishes granted. “Because I am _not_ going to leave without you.”

“Suit yourself,” Haru- _aniue_ snaps, with a hastily-forced numbness to his tone. In one graceful movement he jumps in the pool he just vacated – to just call this _swimming_ would be an insult, it’s more like _living, coexisting_ –

Haru- _aniue_ had always and forever been _so beautiful._

Before I can catch myself, or stop what I am doing, I’m already wading through the waters – those sparkling, _irresistible_ waters – to join him.

But then suddenly, darkness floods my vision, and the last thing I remember – other than a strange, vaguely familiar cold pain stabbing through my chest – is that I never want to hear Haru- _aniue_ ’s scream ever again.

It’s as if someone had _died_.

.

.

“Make sure that your group never approaches this location again, do you hear me?” I hear Haru- _aniue_ ’s voice say, from quite a distance away. But still, I can hear that faint undercurrent…of worry? What exactly is happening here?

“Don’t worry, _Your Highness_.” I hear Rin… _seethe_ , his arms wrapping tighter around my limp body. “We’re absolutely _never_ gonna come back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, am I glad _that’s_ out of the way. This part was especially tricky to put into words, so I had to cut some scenes short. Especially regarding Rei and Haru’s scene, which was mostly _sung_ in the original – I'm iffy with using song lyrics in conversation, it's already enough that I use them for the chapter titles! (Or maybe that's just me.) So sorry if that made this chapter sound more blocky and/or awkward than my usual!
> 
> Okay, so first things first: Makoto’s taking Olaf’s place, but he’s not a full snowman made of snow – there’s got to be some bone in him somehow somewhere, I haven’t really worked out the details – but his skin tone’s one shade tanner than Haru’s (and by extension, Elsa’s), his body temp’s colder than that of the normal human, and he’s perfectly fine with walking around in a pair of legskins and a too-tight borrowed vest. Also, if it weren’t obvious enough, he’s a miracle of the universe and everybody loves him. (There’s a reason why I didn’t have a scene of him and Haru in the same room…then it’d be _Haru_ ’s turn to flush neon red. Guess I’ll save that for the epilogue.)
> 
> At first I was supposed to write Haru and Rei’s big confrontation scene to the tone of the original song for that scene, which is [Life’s Too Short](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUMiU2wp7ZQ)‘cause Rei’s not the type who backs down from a confrontation _ever_ , but…it just didn’t sit right with me, so I fashioned this alternative.
> 
> If I had been vague enough…basically Haru’s so pretty when he swims that Rei can’t help but want to go in with him (remember how Rei only really wanted to swim in canon when he saw Haru?), Rei drowns, Haru panics and tries to save him, pretty much like what he did in chapter 1, only instead of hitting Rei’s head, this time he hits Rei’s heart. Rei doesn’t see this, but Rin does – when Haru first screamed he ran in like crazy, prepared to fish someone out of the water if need be. It’s his big brother mode in action.
> 
> Again, thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed Abluvion thus far, and also that you'll like to continue reading on! (Even though it really might take me a while before chapter 4...)


	4. the cold never bothered me anyway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei meets Rin's 'love expert' friends, uncovers a few secrets, has a heart-to-heart with Makoto, and comes to terms with how to deal with his elder brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here's a link to the Tumblr post, if anyone wants to reblog + read + see the related graphic-thing I did for this chapter there!](http://patriciaselina.tumblr.com/post/87907666776/abluvion-final-chapter-the-cold-never-bothered)

“Hey, Princey?”

“What is it, Rin-san?”

Rin’s mouth turns down into a frown as he looks down on me. He’s been carrying me bridal-style ever since we got back from Haru- _aniue_ ’s ice castle, and this should be embarrassing enough, but it came hot on the heels of Haru- _aniue_ shutting me out, _again_ , so as things are I pretty much don’t care how I get transported. The slight flush dusting Rin’s cheekbones say that _he_ feels otherwise, however.

“Your hair,” Rin mutters, his eyebrow raised for some impregnable reason because while I do know I have a rather chronic case of untamable bed head this is _not_ something of grave importance to us right now. “Has it always been that blue?”

“I got it from Mother,” I reply, with a small smile on my face. Gods above, do I miss Mother. I have her hair and high cheekbones, Father’s eyes and appalling eyesight, and these are things I only truly appreciated _after_ we lost them.

“Huh. Haven’t seen that kind of hair color before.”

“So speaks the redhead.”

“Your boyfriend’s _blond_ , Princey. With _fuchsia-pink_ eyes.”

“Fair point,” I concede. In a fit of boredom I once tried to write an academic paper on the diversity of hair and eye colors in Tottori, and halfway through surveying our servants and retainers I basically threw my hands up in frustration and gave up. I was _twelve_.

“Your... _brother_ , though.” Rin continues, a bit warily, as if afraid that calling for Haru- _aniue_ would summon him out of thin air. As if he would. I tried that many times before, it’s _obviously_ not going to happen. “Has his hair always been that...I dunno. That _dark_?”

We just vacated a powerful sorcerer-slash-errant monarch’s premises, and the first things Rin asks about are _hair colors_? That’s intriguing. “I guess it always has been? It’s not as if we’d dye our hair on a whim. Why do you ask?”

“Because,” Rin says, with that inscrutably wary tone of his, “your hair’s turning _jet-black_ , Rei.”

It’s the first time he’s properly addressed me by name, and the gravity of both that and the serious look in his eyes is not lost on me. Rin’s _worried_.

I blink once, twice, almost owlishly, before Rin sighs and fishes out a small handheld mirror from his trousers. “Here, see it for yourself.”

Ever since I could remember, there had always been this one lock of hair on the right that was colored darker than the bright-blue shock of hair I got from Mother. Father had dark hair, so while the discrepancy of colors was surprising the color choice was not, but there had always been something rather... _off_ about that lock of hair. Light always bounced off it differently. _Colder_ , somehow. Like ice frosting a mountainside, glinting dark and menacing.

It’s the exact match of the color of Haru- _aniue_ ’s hair, in fact.

And where I had once had one lock of hair in that color, now a good _half_ of my hair is as midnight-blue as Haru- _aniue_ ’s, oddly enough.

Rin puts two and two together before I could, which is another clear indicator of how much he had been thinking about this. “It’s ‘cuz he struck you, didn’t he.”

I’m oddly distracted by my reflection in the mirror; must be the shock talking. While the dark-haired look isn’t exactly a bad look on me, if I do say so myself, I like the way my old blue hair brought out my purple eyes better. “Does it look bad?”

“Hmm...” Rin looks down at me again, his wine-red eyes scrunched up in concentration as he removes his hat and presses it flat to my hair. “Nah, I guess not.”

It’s only then that we hear Makoto speak, from where he’s fixing the sails of Rin’s boat. “You _hesitated_ , Rin.”

“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. Listen, Princey, we’re gonna need help for this. Can you sit down?”

“Yes, I think I can – oh, thank you, Makoto-san,” I say, as Makoto helps me to a proper sitting position. We watch as Rin takes the wheel, steering us away from Haru- _aniue_ ’s castle. “Where are we going, Rin-san?”

“We’re gonna meet my friends,” Rin grins, showing off his sharp white teeth. “Don’t sweat, Princey, they know how to fix this.”

“These are the...’ _love expert’_ friends of yours, I reckon?”

“Mm-hm. Well...I say ‘ _friends_ ’. They’re more like ‘ _family_ ’, seeing as both I and my lil sis grew up with ‘em and all.”

“You have a little sister?”

“Her name’s Gou, but she’ll tell you to call her _Kou_ ; roll with it. Adorbs as hell, but she is not to know I said that, ‘k?”

I can’t help but smile upon seeing the soft smile that forms on Rin’s face when he continues on talking about his little sister. A smile feels weird on my face, still rusty from years of disuse, but I’d rather struggle with my awkward smiles than focus on the bitterer parts of me that think about how some people have all the luck and have elder brother’s who don’t ignore and/or freeze them half to death and I _don’t_.

“As for rest of my buddies...well, Ai’s quiet enough, you’d probably get along with him, but he’s the odd man out. Sei and Sou and everyone else are noisy-ass as hell. Sei ‘specially. That guy _seriously_ has to keep his hands off Gou, ‘fore _I_ take ‘em off of him.” Rin grunts, and turns back to me. “Speaking of. My sis is a goddamned catch, and you are an okay prince, albeit one who marries guys at first sight, but if you ever think of laying a hand on Gou I will _personally_ rip you apart. Are we clear on this?”

“Crystal.” I mutter, hands raised in surrender to the frankly terrifying look on Rin’s face.

“That’s good, then!” Rin pipes up; closer inspection shows he’s grinning _way_ too merrily for his smile to be anything other than nervous, and that his white-knuckled hands are clutching at the steering wheel, for some reason. “Listen, I’m pretty damned sure that they’re gonna be too much to handle, especially for you two. They’re stubborn and sassy and inappropriate at times, and most of the time they honestly look like they’re out for blood, but…they’re good company. Good _people_. I wouldn’t trust them with my lil’ sis otherwise.”

“I know, Rin-san,” I say, talking over Rin-san before he babbles himself into an early grave. On hindsight, that’s something I might have picked up from Haru- _aniue_ , something he always did to calm _me_ down. “Your friends sound lovely.”

“That’s good, then,” Rin says, and he doesn’t turn around quickly enough to mask the relieved smile that forms on his face. It’s a pretty smile, but I’m not going to tell him that, not when the last time I paid him some kind of compliment (“ _You have really strong arms_ ,” when he carried me around earlier) he had made some quip about me not being ‘ _succulent_ ’ enough to distract him from his affections towards Makoto, which is a bit annoying for I am a man and not a hunk of roast beef.

So, instead, when I say “I’m looking forward to meeting them,” I _mean it_. Because, after all – it’s better to have a family of friends, than no family at all, and in this regard Rin is luckier than I could ever wish I’d be.

.

.

.

“Rin, you know Rei can’t swim, why did you bring us here?” Makoto scolds, his bare arms wrapped around my shaking shoulders protectively, “It’s not safe here.”

“Aw, you have _such_ little faith in me, babe.” Rin says, smiling brightly back at Makoto, as if he was doing nothing out of the ordinary, as if he weren’t currently out to kill us. As if he didn’t just call his crush by an affectionate nickname.

The water below us is littered with grey dorsal fins which undeniably belong to sharks, and I don’t think anyone would blame me for being terrified. Any sane person would be, in this situation.

This tells a lot about what I think of Rin’s current mental health.

“Can’t you see you’re terrifying Rei?” Makoto says, as he continues on rubbing soothing circles on my back. “Turn back and take us somewhere safer or I’ll chuck you off this ship and do it myself.”

Rin’s cheeks are flushed a nice blazing red, but there’s a reckless grin on his face as he barrels on. “God, babe, _I love it_ when you take charge. But let’s leave that out for later – I’m helping, I _promise_.”

Before we can ask him what he’s planning on doing and how it’ll help us, or why his cheeks are bright neon red, Rin brings two fingers to his lips and makes one long, loud whistle.

As if they were magnetically drawn to that sound, the sharks immediately jump out of the water and Makoto and I cling to each other and just **_scream_** , _farewell, life, it was nice knowing you --_

We stop in the middle of one particularly harmonized scream, though; for one of the sharks that jump towards our boat suddenly just... _shifts_ , in mid-air, and the fact is that they started jumping as a shark, and somehow became a girl when their feet met the wooden boat floor.

With her striking red hair and bright eyes, the girl – who could be no one else but Rin’s little sister – looks very pretty indeed. This is all my mind comes up with, before she looks at us and makes an excited squeal.

“ _ONII-CHAN BROUGHT SOMEONE HOME!!!_ ”

“Wait – _Rin_ brought someone?” says another one of them...a man, this time, with spiky hair. “As in _our_ Rin?”

“An _actual_ someone?” pipes up another man, smaller than the first; this one has silver-grey hair in a bowl cut.

“By ‘someone’ you mean, like, a _human being_ , right?” asks a third man, taller and shooting Rin a worried gaze, “Not another one of those animals he thinks are cute or whatever?”

“Rin-san,” I grumble, elbowing my companion as these …shark …people … _hybrids_?…encircle us. “What exactly, pray tell, does meeting your family entail?” Interrogation? Torture? _Human sacrifice?_

Rin only rolls his eyes, blissfully ignorant to my inner turmoil. “Like I said, I’ve learned to just roll with it.”

The pretty girl walks towards us, and there’s a happy smile on her face as she approaches. “Ooh, hi! I’m Kou, by the way, Rin’s adorable little sister.” I manage to offer her a slipshod, belated bow, and Rin only gives her a glare, which she laughs off carelessly. “Lemme have a look at you – nice height, high cheekbones! Cute-colored eyes, too…and oh. Oh my. _Fantastic_ muscles.” Kou wipes off what seems to be drool from a corner of her lips, and glares at her elder brother. “Why’d you have to call dibs on him, _onii-chan_? He’s _gorgeous_.”

“I, ah, err…thank you?” I mumble, my cheeks flaming red. “Only …well …I …Rin-san…we’re not… _I’m_ not...”

“Rei-kun – I _can_ call you Rei-kun, right? I’m pretty sure we’re the same age – I know _onii-chan_ ’s not the best catch _ever_ –” (“ _Hey_!”) “– but being in such a state of denial is ridiculous. I mean, come on. You’ve got his silly hat on your head. _Onii-chan_ never ever lets go of that.”

“Well, but Makoto-san is wearing his vest,” I deadpan, gesturing to the man who I still share a terrified embrace with.

“‘ _Makoto-san_ ’? I... _oh wow_.” Gou mutters, biting her lower lip as she looks at me and Makoto and Rin in alternating turns. “All _three_ of you? Well, that _does_ make a pretty picture...”

“ _Shut it_ , Gou.”

“Aw, no need to be shy, Rin!” cries the guy with the spiky hair, smacking Rin soundly on the back. “You’ve got _surprisingly_ good taste.”

“You are also apparently a hoarder.” the other tall man adds, with a raised eyebrow, as the small silver-haired one flushes red and doesn’t say anything.

“Ugh. Didn’t you hear what I said?” Rin growls, which sounds silly because save the whistle he hasn’t really said anything. “That’s not why I brought ‘em here! Especially so with Princey – I mean, c’mon, the kid’s already engaged!”

“Now, Rin, do calm down,” The spiky-haired man guffaws, effectively not following his own advice, “If all you needed was someone to get the fiancé outta the way, all you had to do was ask!”

“I do _not_ have a crush on the dork prince, goddamnit; we have very real, very serious problems! Where is Uncle, by the way?”

“Here I am, Rin,” speaks another man behind us, older and with hair a shade darker than Rin and Gou’s shared hair color, and an extremely smug grin. “I followed the sound of suspiciously specific denial and caught up with you guys.”

“Urgh, cut me some slack, okay?” Rin says, rolling his eyes and accepting his uncle’s hug with unexpected grace. “I don’t have a crush on that _kid_.”

“Ex _cuse_ me?” I say, stepping away from Makoto to fix Rin with a glare. I know that I am not exactly on board with the notion of Rin’s family directly-or-indirectly setting me up with him (and Makoto, for that matter), seeing as I am a happily engaged man and all, but I take _offense_ to being referred to as anything less than a _proper adult_. I organized my brother’s coronation ball all by myself, for crying out loud. “I am _not_ a kid. I am turning _twenty_ this year, I’ll have you know.”

“Yeah, but still, not my type, also, completely irrelevant to our problem right now.” Rin says, hauling me by the shoulders to face his uncle. “Uncle, you remember this guy?”

“I don’t think – oh! This is the younger prince, yes? Prince Rei? But wasn’t his hair all...”

“Yeah, his hair was blue ‘til a few hours ago. That’s why I brought ‘im here, ‘cuz I remember you dealing with him before.”

“Oh.” Rin’s uncle sighs, the happy expression on his face mellowing out as he looks at me, for some reason. Why does he look so... _sad_? “Right. We took you and Gou in on the same day Their Highnesses came to visit us, Rin.” Wait, what? My parents visited this place before? Seemingly sensing the confusion on my face, Rin’s uncle turns away from his nephew and addresses me. “It’s understandable that you don’t remember that day, Your Highness.”

Another thing: after spending hours and hours with Rin who stubbornly keeps on calling me silly epithets, being called by my proper title is a shock to my senses.

“The cure for back then was for you to forget all about your brother’s magic, after all,” Rin’s uncle goes on, taking both my hands in his, and frowning. “But I’m afraid that’s not going to work, this time. I’m sorry, Rin.”

Rin pouts, the pout of a child used to getting what he wants all the time with no extra charges. It’s the same thing I vaguely remember pulling on Haru- _aniue_ before the whole locked-door fiasco fell into play. “You fixed it just _fine_ the last time! What’s so different about now?”

“It was the head last time, Rin, and you know well as I do that the head is easily persuaded. But this time, Prince Rei’s _heart_ had been frozen. And only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.”

I don’t know which exact word out of this sentence had been the one that did me in, but what I do know is that I find myself falling into Rin’s arms like some generic romance-novel heroine. Only instead of the situation being laced with undertones the like of which Gou seems to be imagining right now with a happy sigh, it is laced with ice seeping into my veins and fear clouding my heart because _blast it all_ Nagisa is a damned mountain range away and Haru- _aniue_ froze _my_ _heart_.

So believe me when I say that despite the beautiful direct-from-sappy-romance picture we seem to paint right now, the situation _is_ as serious as Rin’s tone of voice makes it sound, if not more.

“Rei,” Rin says, clutching me tighter in his arms as he stands up, “We have to get you to Nagisa.”

“Nagisa-kun,” I trail off, clutching weakly at Rin’s shirt as I float in and out of consciousness, “...to Nagisa-kun, right.”

.

.

.

When Rin dropped me off at the gates of Tottori with a worried look and a whispered “ _Don’t worry about me_ ” that definitely did not make me worry _at all_ , I’m pretty sure that he did not expect for this to happen.

I’m ushered into a warmly-lit room where an immaculately-dressed fair-haired figure sits silently with their back facing the door. This should’ve given me my first, second, and third hints in quick succession – Nagisa is never just _perfectly_ put-together like that; he never does _anything_ silently, least of all _sitting_ ; and when the maid holding my weight announced that I was entering the room, he wouldn’t _just_ nod silently and dismiss her with a wave of his hand.

He’d turn around to face me, at the very least.

So I should’ve been suspicious of this person a full three minutes before the fact. But as my brain is way too busy contemplating the arduous task of _not_ freezing solid, all these throwaway hints don’t even register with me.

“Nagisa...-kun?”

“Your beloved ‘ _Nagisa-kun_ ’ isn’t here to help you now,” the person I thought to be Nagisa smirks, as he – _she_ – rips off the short blond wig. Long curls of blond hair tumble out like coiling snakes and all I can think of is that this situation is _not_ good. “Your Highness. Princess Izumi of Iwami, at your service.”

“M-meeting another one of Nagisa-kun’s sisters, is a pleasure, of c-course.” I say, somehow managing to get words past my chattering teeth. Nagisa’s sister, seemingly oblivious to my plight, picks up a pitcher from a table and hums merrily. Then again, Nagisa _did_ tell me that his sisters have a terrible collective sense of humor.  “But f-forgive me, right now I r- _really_ need to talk to N-Nagisa-kun.”

“Aww, y’poor lamb. Weren’t you listening?” Izumi asks, cocking her head in a way that would’ve been cute on her little brother, but looks rather...forbidding, when you pair it with the eerie pearl-white grin on her face. “ _Our_ Nagisa isn’t going to help you. Why would he? When his true loyalties lie with us.”

“ _What_?” I say, and am about to muster up the strength to make that a proper question, when the Iwami princess chuckles, and...

Upends. _Upends_ the entire pitcher of water on the roaring fireplace. I can’t help myself, can’t have the strength to do anything more – I fall to the floor, embarrassingly, ungracefully. The princess in front of me only chuckles harder.

“Your beloved older brother was going to be the obvious choice, of course, but no one ever seemed to get through to him.” she says, casually as can be, as she snuffs out the candles one-by-one with her fingertips. Each little flame lost feels like an icy pinprick stab of pain through my heart, but I mustn’t make it show. _Conceal, don’t feel._ I am a _Prince_ , for crying out loud; she has already seen me collapse, I am _not_ allowing her to see me feel pain.

“So then we set our sights on _you_. As you may have seen during your precious brother’s coronation, it was Umi who was supposed to set the plan into action, but then we found out that our little brother took a shining to you – you know what they say about happy accidents, right?”

“Nagisa-kun, and I,” I start, a sudden flare of possessive anger wanting to burst through all this ice in my heart. “It was _not_ an accident. It was _fate_. It was _true love_.”

“You may say so, but I don’t see him coming to your aid, do you?” Izumi tells me, with a sickly sweet smile on her pretty face, one that makes my heart plummet straight down to my feet. “We were going to stage a lovely little _accident_ for your brother, when you and our darling Nagisa go on your honeymoon, but your brother made this a million times easier for us. Now all that’s left to do is kill Haruka,” she says, casually lifting and testing the weight of a sword in her hands, “and bring back summer. A heroic plan, don’t you think?”

“You’re no-no hero,” I sneer, even as speaking, breathing, _moving_ grows to be increasingly difficult as my limbs slowly but surely freeze solid. “ _You are a monster_.”

“Aw, but that’s already what they call your brother, right?” Izumi replies, still smiling sweetly. “But thanks for saying that. That means I can match him in skill, at the very least.”

She’s crouching down to grace me with that annoying _condescending_ smile of hers, and it makes me sick. It makes me want to do something unseemly like _expectorate_ in her face, or do something crass like _punch_ said face, but I was raised better than that. I _am_ better than that. So instead I level my most hateful of glares at her and sneer, “You’re no match for Haru- _aniue_.”

“No, darling, _you’re_ no match for your precious ‘ _Haru-aniue_ ’,” she snaps back, grabbing me painfully by the chin with her fingers. Her skin feels cold to the touch, too cold to even be healthy, or human, and it fits eerily with her cold calculating glare. And _I’m_ supposed to be the frozen one here? “I, on the other hand, am the lovely heroine who shall save Tottori from destruction!”

As her heels clack noisily against the floorboards, I am overcome with the great need to not let her have the last word. I should _not_ let her have the last word. That would feel too much like losing.

So, in a sudden fit of rage, I haul myself up to my freezing feet and cry, “ _You won’t get away with this_!”

She looks back at me, momentarily shocked by the fact that I am very visibly freezing solid but am also standing up without outside help, but she just as quickly schools her features into a satisfied smirk, once she realizes that while I did stand up, I also did not actually start _moving_. I can’t even make a single step forward, even if I tried, and I know this. We both know this.

“Sorry, honey,” she says, her hand turning the lock as she peers at me from behind the door, “but I already have.”

She closes the door with one fluid flick of her wrist that I would’ve seen the beauty and grace of, had I seen her in the context of any other situation from this one. But as things are I can only feel the oppressive sinking feeling in my chest, and the glum coldness of my blood freezing solid in my veins.

I find myself curling up into myself on the floor once more, mouth opening and closing, making the sorriest, most unsightly pleas for people who aren’t here and might not care about my well-being in the first place.

.

.

.

_Nagisa-kun – Rin-san – Makoto-san – Mother – Father – **Haru-aniue?**_

.

_Haru-aniue, where are you?_

.

.

.

It feels like forever has passed, since I started lying here like some kind of vegetable. The funny thing is – if I were sentient enough to find hilarity in it – I’ve read about farmers in cold countries burying their crops in snow because that apparently lends them a sweeter taste, so in freezing solid like this I’d actually be like a vegetable in more ways than the simile originally called for.

Anyway, moving on; it definitely felt like I spent forever recalling my life and my choices. Would we still have gotten caught up in this mess if I didn’t go swimming with Haru- _aniue_ when we were little? If I took a lock pick to Haru- _aniue_ ’s bedroom door, secrecy and half-arsed plans be damned? If I didn’t meet and subsequently fall for and propose to Nagisa? If I just followed my instincts and let Haru- _aniue_ explain himself to me, before he gave up trying and turned everything to a kingdom-wide oasis?

Would I have been able to save Haru- _aniue_ ’s life, if I weren’t too busy obsessing over the dreariness of my own?

_I guess I’ll never know._

Just as I conclude this, all prepared to just close my eyes and give up – as soon as they put that blade through Haru- _aniue_ , I’ll have nothing left to live for, especially since every time I’ll see Nagisa (if I _ever_ see him again after this), I’ll see the person who kills my brother – I hear something turn with an audible _click_.

“ _Please_ ,” I whisper, eyes strained as the doorknob continues trembling, like my vision, like my weakening limbs and will to live. “ _Help_.”

I expect a lot of things to greet me as that door opens – an assassin, maybe, to grant me the terminal arrow-shot between the eyes. But what I do not expect, what I never even _dared_ to hope for, is the sight in front of me – Makoto, in his ice-skinned, sparkly-jammered, short-sleeve-vested glory, looking down at me with wide eyes and shaking lips.

“Oh no…Rei! Rei, what happened? No…no…” he trails off, eyes fixed on a corner of the room with surprising determination. “Wait here.”

Makoto runs to the corner and hauls what seems to be a pile of firewood with his strong arms, as I look on in gratitude – and just the slightest bit of _awe_ , because even in this weakened state I can still ascertain that Makoto’s biceps are the kind poets write odes for.

It’s when he strikes a match, though, that I finally find my voice again. “Makoto-san, get away from there! You might…” Might what? _Melt_? Yes, Makoto _does_ have this unearthly sort of sheen to his skin that alludes to him being more than just human, and said sheen _does_ sort of resemble ice more than anything – _finely sculpted_ ice, I have to say – but Haru- _aniue_ has the same pale-bluish tint to his skin as well and as far as I know he doesn’t melt. I’m feeling satisfied of this train of thought, so I end that sentence as “You might hurt yourself!”

“Don’t worry about me, Rei. Here, keep yourself warm,” Makoto says, bundling me in a blanket he found draped over one of the couches, thank heavens for small miracles. It’s a really nice, deep, vibrant blue, Haru- _aniue_ ’s favourite color. Which room did we get stuck in?

Makoto looks around a bit, probably thinking the same question as I, before he looks back at my still form curled up in front of the fire and sighs deeply before asking the question I dreaded him asking: “Rei, where’s Prince Nagisa? Wasn’t true love supposed to break the spell?”

Tears would’ve fallen from my eyes just then, if only it didn’t feel as if they too had been frozen under my skin. “I was wrong about him.” _I was wrong about everything_. Maybe I had not been; there is still the pinprick of possibilities that Nagisa had in fact not been involved in his sisters’ machinations, but somehow it’s easier for me to think that he is – much less false hope to nurture and mourn over, that way. So I swallow down the sinking feeling weighing down my broken heart, and say, “It wasn’t true love.”

“That’s too bad, I mean, we went all the way here!” Makoto’s carding his cool, big hands through my messy hair, and despite everything I feel safe and secure in his arms. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in such a long time, and I drink it in greedily, color slowly but surely seeping into my cheeks. “But I’m glad I found you.”

“How _did_ you find me?”

“I got some help,” Makoto says, rather vaguely, with a genuinely confused expression on his handsome face. “I didn’t see their face, though – it was really dark. But I’m glad their instructions led me to you! Let’s get you warm, Rei.”

“Makoto-san, you don’t have to, I –” I break off into a subconscious sigh when Makoto’s hands lavish their attention to a certain part of my scalp that makes me feel the warmth of blood rushing through my cheeks, it’s embarrassing and I’ve no idea why I’m focusing on this. “– I _mean_. Please situate yourself farther away from the fireplace, Makoto-san. I’ve no idea what you’re made of exactly, but if you’re made of ice as much as Haru- _aniue_ ’s powers suggest you may be, you just might melt.”

The pout that forms on Makoto’s face after hearing me say that is insanely adorable in its childish stubbornness – it’s a look that shan’t look so fitting on a man of his body type, but it does and it could take breaths away. “I am _not_ gonna leave you, Rei. Not until we figure out some other kind of act of true love that could save you. Any ideas?”

“How could I come up with any?” I say, self-depreciatingly, a pang striking my heart as I remember what Haru- _aniue_ had snapped at me, just a day before. “I don’t even know what love is.”

“That’s all right, Rei, don’t worry. _I_ know.” Makoto says, pressing a warm, chaste, close-lipped kiss to the crown of my head. “Love is when you put someone’s needs before yours. It’s that simple, really…just like when Rin brought you back here to help you, never thinking about getting the boat you promised him.”

Innocent words, but the implications they hold give me reason for pause. “Makoto-san…are you quite possibly saying…that Rin-san… _loves_ me?”

“Oh, Rei, you don’t have to look so _shocked_ about it,” Makoto says, his voice soft and slightly amused. “Love isn’t just _romantic_ love; you know this as well as I do.”

Something finally just _clicks_ in my head, a puzzle piece I’ve thought missing that had been in fact staring me in the face the _entire time_ , but as things are I don’t even get to say it out loud because the windows suddenly burst open in a shock of cold brittle wind.

As Makoto quickly stands up, fully intending to close the offending window once more, I see his green eyes lock on something, and subsequently widen in surprise. “It’s Rin, Rei – Rin came back!”

“He came back?”

“Yeah! He looked so out of it when we dropped you off, I never thought he would – but that’s fine! Rei, take my hand!”

“Huh?”

“Take my hand, Rei! Rin’s here; I’m bringing you to him.”

I take Makoto’s hand and let myself be dragged through corridors, as ice seeps into the very bones of the castle walls. “What good would that do us, pray tell, Makoto?”

“I have no clue,” Makoto confesses, barely even out of breath, as he wraps his arms around me to carry bridal-style down the spiral staircase. “But what matters is that you guys love each other. And I love you both, too. We’ll figure something out.”

.

.

.

We’re just a few steps away from Rin when I hear the conversation behind us.

“No running, Your Majesty,” Princess Izumi says, in that cloying sweet voice that I wager shall follow me into my nightmares. “There’s no running from what you’ve done, not anymore.”

“I don’t care,” I hear Haru- _aniue_ say, in a voice as deadpan and emotionless as I’ve been used to, but I can hear the faint, tremulous notes of worry and regret underneath it all. “Just tell Prince Nagisa to take care of my brother.”

“Your brother?” the Princess says, in that saccharine theatric tone, and it makes me want to throw up, both due to that and the immense amounts of falsities that fall from her pretty pink mouth. “He returned from the North terribly weak, and cold, and tired. He said that you froze his heart. His skin was ice; his hair turned dark…your brother. Poor little Prince Rei.” She takes a pause for presumably dramatic purposes, and her next words absolutely floor me. “Your little brother is dead, _Haruka_. Because of _you_.”

“No…” I hear Haru- _aniue_ mumble, voice weak and broken. The waters surrounding us still in response and the cold biting winds stand at a halt as well. “No…no. _Rei_.”

There’s a loud _thump_ of something falling to the ground, and I look over my hunched-up self to see Haru- _aniue_ down on his knees, looking down at his trembling hands, as if he was looking at the devil himself.

“Makoto-san,” I say, tugging down on Makoto’s borrowed vest, as a heavily panting Rin stops an arm’s-length away from us. “Please put me down.” When he does, puzzled but unresisting, I press a chaste kiss to his cheek, just like the kind I used to give Haru- _aniue_ before, when we were smaller and things were less complicated. “Thank you, Makoto-san,” I say, and turn to the third member of our party, making sure to give him as soft a smile as I can give. “You too, Rin-san. For everything.”

“Princey,” Rin says, in between pants, his voice full of questions, “Why’re you lookin’ at us like that?”

My eyes crinkle up fondly, and I am about to open my mouth and give them my answer, but then I see it.

Archery is not my usual sport, but I’d dabbled in it once before. The stance that Princess Izumi means to take is unmistakable – she intends to shoot that arrow into Haru- _aniue_ ’s torso, while his back is turned to her, his limbs curled into himself as he grieves over my presumed death with unseeing eyes. With his stillness and her proximity she could hit him straight in the general area of the heart without having to worry too much about accuracy.

“ _Haruka_ ,” I breathe, unintentionally mirroring his earlier words, as I detach myself from my friends’ worried glances and _run_.

I asked it of myself earlier, didn’t I – _Would I have been able to save Haru-aniue’s life, if I weren’t too busy obsessing over the dreariness of my own?_

And the answer is yes, the answer had always been yes. So when I put myself in between Haru- _aniue_ and the planned trajectory of the arrowhead, I don’t even think of myself, and what is to become to me and my sorry, short-lived life.

All I think about is that, more than anything else, _I will not let Haru-aniue die_.

And then,

everything

goes

.

.

.

.

.

.

He’s all ice now, but under my hands he’s just the right temperature.

 _No_ , I think, hanging off of him like he would a life raft, this can’t happen, this is _wrong_. Because Rei is _always_ supposed to be warm to my touch because _I’m_ the one who has ice running through his veins and he _doesn’t_. Never should have. Rei who is bright like sunshine, strong like Father, smart like Mother, who is absolutely not supposed to be broken, frozen, _dying_. That’s supposed to be _my_ part to play.

Besides, it’s not as if anyone would miss me anyway, even if I were to die, perish, waste away just like this. But as for Rei – Nagisa loves him, and Makoto loves him, and the townspeople love him, and that weird redhead guy with the freaky teeth loves him, and even despite all this, _I_ love him. He is _not_ supposed to die, especially not because of _me_.

I am the one who’s supposed to be dying. It’s the least I can do, after everything.

This is wrong, wrong _wrong_ **_wrong_** and absolutely sick, I will freeze myself dead holding Rei in my arms if I have to, I already let go of him once and look what happens, he can marry Nagisa and rule Tottori for all I care so long as Rei will _live_ and I am _never_ shutting him out again --

“Haru,” I hear Makoto gasp, and the tone he uses surprises me. Rei’s dead in my arms, why does he sound _happy_? Crush or no, I ought to tell him off for that... “Haru, look!”

There’s a sense of urgency underneath Makoto’s unnerving surprise, so I look.

And, well.

Rei – alive unfrozen bright-eyed moving alive _alive **alive**_ – looks back at me.

“Haru...- _aniue_?”

“Rei,” I breathe, easily as I take in oxygen, and before I can even think about it, I hold him closer, my arms tight around his shoulders like they haven’t been ever since he stopped believing in the monsters under his bed. “Rei. _Rei_. You’re alive.”

There’s the beginning of a fond chuckle underneath his tired voice, and it makes the corners of my mouth turn up into the smallest of smiles. “Yes, Haru- _aniue_ , I’ve noticed that.”

Still so sassy as ever. But I’m not complaining, not when he’s living and breathing and very decidedly _not dead_. “Rei…” I say his name again, as if I’m afraid I’ll ever forget how to say it, “…you sacrificed yourself for me?

Rei’s face lights up with the fondest of exasperated expressions, as he pulls away from our embrace to look me in the eyes as seriously as he can muster. “Why wouldn’t I, Haru- _aniue_? _I love you_.”

“And _true love_ is all it takes to thaw a frozen heart.” Rei’s redhead friend with the sharp teeth says, whistling softly. “Good call, Princey.”

“I wasn’t exactly thinking of that, though, Rin-san.” Rei quips, turning to his friend – ‘Rin’, apparently? – with an almost sheepish expression. “All I was thinking of was keeping Haru- _aniue_ alive. But I’m glad it worked, nevertheless.”

“I’m glad too,” Rin mumbles, almost shyly, and I would glare at him and comment on this suspicious behavior but I already sort-of _promised_ to not stop Rei from making friends, and I am too engrossed in my thoughts to do so.

“ _True love,_ ” I hear myself say, testing the words on my tongue. _True love_. Of course. _Of-freaking-course_.

For all I used to tell Rei that his storybooks are nothing but pure indulgent fiction…I was wrong. This _is_ a fairytale.

“Haru,” Makoto says, carefully, worriedly, “What’s the matter?”

“ _Love will thaw_.” I mumble, grudgingly untangling Rei from our embrace to spread my arms out, palms raised. Let’s see if this works. “ _Love_.”

The amazed look on Rei’s face as he watches me lift up all the floodwaters to evaporate into a nice snowflake-shaped cloud is worth a thousand kingdoms.

As the townspeople walk out of their houses slowly, carefully, their eyes drinking in the almost-lost familiar sights of warm sand and a clear blue sky, Rei turns to me and grins. “I’d hate to say ‘ _I told you so_ ’, Haru- _aniue_.”

“Your new friend has been a bad influence, I presume.” I roll my eyes. “And I don’t care. Come here, Rei,” I say, before enveloping him into another embrace.

“Yes, I’d say he might be one,” Rei says, mirth finding its way to his beautiful voice once more. “But still. I knew you could do it, Haru- _aniue_. Thank you.”

“No, Rei, don’t thank me. Thank _you_ ,” I say, closing my eyes and smiling at how rightly _warm_ he is under my touch. This is good. This is _better_ than good. “Thank you, Rei, for saving my life.”

Rei laughs, and the warmth of that is electric in itself. “The pleasure is all mine, Haru- _aniue_.”

And so we bask in that one perfect moment, where everything is right and brilliant and there is no other sound more musical to my ears than that of my little brother’s breathing. He’s alive, and here with me, and that’s all that matters.

.

.

.

.

.

.

_**fin.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …If this ‘proper’ ending sounds kinda odd it’s ‘cuz I actually have an epilogue chapter that I’m only halfway through at the moment (1.17 AM, June 6), and I have gotta sleep now so I’m gonna go post it tomorrow, that is, if I get it done by then!  
> Again, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading Abluvion.


	5. epilogues: rin, nagisa

**RIN**

 

As it turns out though, the days after are extremely, _tremendously_ , **_boring_**.

One day, though, Princey comes rapping on my door like a trigger-happy landlord. Promptly at sunrise.

I’ve half a mind to shut the door on his pretty face and send him away, lamenting the state of my beauty sleep – being _horrendously gorgeous_ helps, of course, but these looks of mine are nothing without _maintenance_ – but before I can do exactly that, his hand’s ‘round my wrist in a flash and I can barely remember locking the door behind us before he drags me away.

“C’mon, c’mon, Rin-san, hurry _up_!” he cries, which is redundant ‘cuz _I’m_ already running, _he’s_ already running, everyone else looks like _blurs_ to me now, and if this wasn’t already ‘ _hurrying_ ’ then there’s gotta be something really wrong with the universe by now.

“Fine, princey,” I huff, trying to blow my hair out of my face. “Just make sure you’re gonna be showing me a sight I haven’t ever seen before.”

Princey makes this very amused giggle-snort of laughter. I had no idea that Rei – stuck-up, overly-formal _Rei_ – was capable of making that kind of sound, and it _floors_ me. “Damn _right_ you haven’t seen this before.” he scoffs, sounding like he’s turning up the haughtiness to _‘insufferable prick’_ levels. “Haru- _aniue_ had to pull strings for this; I’ll have you know, Rin-san -”

“Ouch!!!” Princey had been too lost in his upcoming monologue to realize that he had been leading me right into a post. _Great job_ , four-eyes. “Watch where you’re going, dork-prince!”

“Well, why didn’t _you_ watch –” _Where you’re going_ , is how that’s supposed to end, but he’s the one dragging me, he must’ve remembered that ‘cuz he suddenly turns away, his cheeks flooding with color. _Gotcha_. “Never mind, we’re here.”

“ _Finally_ ,” I sigh, carding a hand through my hair as soon as he lets go of my wrist. He might’ve left bruises. “This better be worth – _oh_.”

Words don’t come to me easily after that.

It’s hitched to the pier and looks like an absolute dream. Fashioned out of wood with tasteful bits of metal here and there, and ice-blue sails that remind me, oddly, of our King’s weird royal swim-clothes. And, as if all of this wasn’t crazy-beautiful enough, it comes with the seal of Tottori on its side.

“You’ve gotta be _kidding_ me.”

“Actually, I think it’s pretty clear that I’m _not_.” Rei says, pushing up his glasses. He looks all calm but I can see him rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Excited, like me. That’s kinda cute. “Haru- _aniue_ made you head of the merchant’s guild, and Tottori’s royally-decreed and _exclusive_ merchant for certain goods...one of them being _water_.”

“You _can’t_ be serious,” I mutter, absolutely floored as my head runs marathons trying to get to terms with what Rei’s saying. “Isn’t that a little redundant, what with our Royal Aloofness’ water shenanigans?”

Rei elbows my side with surprising strength for a man who’s got that ridiculous pout on his face. “If Haru-aniue heard you say that he’d probably turn the water against you. And _laugh_. But no matter – Haru- _aniue_ doesn’t want our people depending on his magical, mysterious, health-benefits-unknown water supply unless we absolutely _have_ to. He’s putting you in charge of ice deliveries, too.”

“This is _crazy_ , Rei,” I shake my head, still feeling woozy and extremely confused as to whether or not this is still my life that’s happening right now, not just a dream, or a cruel joke. “I can’t accept all this.”

“Uh-uh, but you _have_ to,” Rei insists, wiggling one of his ridiculously long fingers. “No returns, no exchanges. King’s orders. We made sure that this was the newest model, you see. Haru- _aniue_ even got you a new set of swimsuits.” The haughtiness suddenly falls off his face, replaced by a shy, almost _adorable_ hesitance. “So. Um. Do you like it, Rin-san?”

“Like it? Are you kidding -” and here my mind mushes into this one strong wordless pulse of _yesyes **YES**_ and before I know it I’ve hoisted Rei by his shoulders, twirling him ‘round like a tall, muscly spinning top. “– _I love it_ , Rei! It’s _fantastic_! I’m so damned in love with it right now, I could _kiss_ you–”

Wait. Wait _wait **wait** _**wait**. I startle, setting Rei back down on his feet again, ‘cuz those are words I can’t believe I’d ever say. And from the pink spots on Rei’s high cheekbones, they didn’t fly over his head. _Damn it._

“– I mean, I _could_ , ‘cuz _wow_ , this is all so amazing and I could’ve been seeing all this with... _Sasabe_ , and I’d _still_ be crazy enough to think of kissing him, haha, don’t think about it.”

“...”

Rei isn’t saying anything, but his cheeks are still _dangerously_ red. “ _Holy shit_. You _are_ thinking of it, aren’t you?” I say, equal parts annoyed, embarrassed, and messing with him. “Oh god, you _are_.”

“I’ve thought,” Rei starts, pushing his glasses up again, and clears his throat, his cheeks still damningly _pink_. “That I’d _really_ not want you anywhere near my, ah, my lips. I have an aversion to _sharp objects_ , you know that.”

“Pshaw. _Your_ loss, Princey.” I say, falling back into our familiar routine of him making fun of my teeth again. Occupational hazard of being sorta-kinda related to sharks. “And, ‘sides, you don’t deserve to get any of my kisses anyway. They’re too good for you.”

All the red’s gone from Rei’s cheeks now, replaced with a raised eyebrow and a flawless smirk. He picked that up from me, didn’t he? I’m gonna regret that, I’m sure. “If you ever cause any chips in Makoto-san’s skin, Haru- _aniue_ will never forgive you.”

“Wha – but how -” Little brat, how did he even _know_?

“Don’t even _think_ of denying it.” Rei chides. “Haru- _aniue_ is at least _honest_ about it, while _you’re_ still stuck waist-deep in denial. And that’s _after_ you stole a kiss from Makoto-san.”

Geez, can’t even have a single little crush in peace, I swear to god.

* * *

 

**NAGISA**

 

“Prince Nagisa, right?”

I’m staying in one of the castle’s many rooms, and Rei had been extremely thoughtful and got me one with a balcony. Despite officially being kept here as a guest, I don’t get many visitors, what with the whole being related to coup d’etat-ing princesses shtick and all, and so I’m absolutely sure I _haven’t_ seen this guy before.

I’m proven wrong, though, when I actually see him up close. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to forget about that day, namely: hearing almost-frozen Rei calling my name, my sister locking me up then trying to kill Rei and his brother. But the thing I’ll never ever forget – aside from the parts where Rei had been absolutely _perfect_ and saved _everything_ – would have to be those eyes.

“Your Majesty,” I say, bowing and biting down the instinctive _‘King Haru-chan’_. I’ve no right to be flippant with the same king my sisters planned to kill. “It is an honor to be in your presence once more.”

“Stop being _formal_ with me, Prince Nagisa, it doesn’t fit you at all.” he deadpans, helping himself of one of my fluffy chairs. Then he looks at me, getting straight to the point with his words. “Makoto told me you helped him save Rei.”

Oh, Makoto, right – the tall, faintly icy-blue skinned guy who stumbled into my cell. “It was the least I could do. I apologize for not being of any help to you, or to Rei.”

“Nonsense. If you’d never told Makoto, he’d never had found Rei. He’s responsible, but a bit lousy with directions.” The King says, shaking his head almost fondly. “And it wasn’t as if you were the one who locked Rei in my bedroom and charged me with treason – so don’t beat yourself up over it, Nagisa. It’s not your fault.”

“I...Your Majesty...” Protocol be damned, I’m gonna cry in front of His Royal Majesty King Haruka of Tottori, my prospective brother-in-law (if, of course, Rei would still through some crazy fluke of destiny wanna follow the engagement through with me), and I don’t do anything in halves – I cry like a little baby. This is going to be rough.

“The last time I cried…well, the last time before this last one…was when our parents died.” the King says, eyes glazed over and unfocused as he starts telling me his story. Why is he telling me his story? As far as I remember, I don’t think he likes me very much. “I was a total _wreck_. Before they died, my parents gave me strict instructions to keep my powers hidden from everyone; and as my feeling strong emotion triggers its release, I was then discouraged from showing my emotions publicly. I was younger then, though – so I wasn’t particularly good with keeping my emotions sealed up on a good day. So when I heard the news…” he pauses, swallowing down…something. “…it was all I could do to not freeze the entire castle solid.”

“I’m the eldest, so naturally, I was supposed to assume my duties as the rightful King. But…I couldn’t, see?” He shows me his ungloved hands, and how a faint dusting of frost crystallizes over his palms as he speaks. “I couldn’t. I hated myself so much for that. But Rei told me something – even then, he had always been the wiser one – he said that he would be here for me, so long as I just let him in.” The young king smiles, and it’s a smile that lights up his face and I understand completely where Rei gets his good looks from. Their parents must’ve been attractive beyond compare. “Because that’s what families do.”

I peek out of the circle of my arms to see King Haruka looking at me with an expression almost as fond as the one he gives Rei, but just almost. Even so, it confuses me – my sisters tried to kill him, why isn’t he still mad at me? “I know we’re not your family, and that your stay here has been distressing, to say the least. But if you need someone to talk to...we’re here for you. Myself, Makoto, and Rei. Maybe Rei’s new friend would like to get to know you as well; Makoto thinks you might get along.”

There’s the smallest of smirks on the king’s face when he says his next words. “After all, you might call me ‘ _big brother_ ’ one day...”

Rei’s been visiting me from time to time, yes, and though we keep walking on eggshells ‘round each other he never really broke off our sudden engagement – but he did tell me that so long as his big brother doesn’t approve, our marriage won’t be happening, and I’d come to terms with that. I am an adult, after all. No matter what my nosy overbearing sisters think.

So you have to understand why my hearing these words – from King Haruka himself, no less! – makes my ears and overall mood perk up in excitement. “So – so does this mean –”

“One year,” the king says, still wearing that close-lipped smirk as he holds up his index finger. “You and Rei will date for one year. _At least_. If by then you _still_ want to get married, then you have my blessing.” My eyes widen with surprise and I am about to fall over myself thanking him, but the icy glare that suddenly frosts over his nice blue eyes makes my blood run cold so I can’t. “But if you ever cause him pain, you now know first hand how easily it could be for me to end you. This shall be my last warning. Is that clear for you?”

I swallow down a mouthful of nerves. “Yes, King Haruka.”

“That’s good,” the young King murmurs, a small smug half-smile on his face as he leaves me to my thoughts.

Date Rei for a year and then get married, if he’ll still have me. I could do that. In fact I’d like to do that, very much. Why didn’t I think of that before?

Oh, right, the love at first sight thing.

**Author's Note:**

> "Abluvion" is the placeholder title for this AU right now, until I think of something better, and you can see the reason for that in its definition post [here](http://other-wordly.tumblr.com/post/20680109629/abluvion).


End file.
